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LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,     N.    J. 

Presented  by 

Greorde     Lonsmd    r^otumond. 

Division .'.J...^.      M  L  C 

Section 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/poetscabinetbeOOraym 


WtC^.    4<    JXp^9\t4ry^^fL^ 


A  Poet^s  Cabinet      ''^v 

Being    Passages,   Mainly   Poetical,    from    the 
Works  of 

George  Lansing  ^Raymond,  LMD, 

Author  of  **  A  Life  in  Song,"  « Ballads,  and  Otiier  Poems," 
"Dante  and  GjIIected  Verse,"  etc. 


Selected  and  Arranged  According  to  Subject  by 
Marion  Mills  Miller,  Litt.  D* 

Editor  of  **The  Classics — Greek  and  Latin,"  etc 


Illustrations  by 

Howard  Chandler  Qiristy 


G*  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  Londoa 

XLbc  "ffinfcRerbocfter  pcegs 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


PREFACE 

Cyclopedias  of  quotations  are  many  and  various,  and  yet 
each  may  have  a  particular  value  that  fully  justifies  its 
existence.  The  editor  may  have  collected  standard  quota- 
tions, in  which  case  his  compilation  possesses  mainly  the 
character  of  a  reference  work,  giving  the  golden  thoughts 
of  the  race  in  that  mintage  of  artistic  expression  which  has 
been  stamped  with  approval  by  the  masters  of  literature 
and  accepted  as  sterling  currency  by  the  people.  Such  a 
work  requires  wide  and  accurate  knowledge  in  its  editor, 
but  this  alone;  indeed  the  less  literary  discrimination  he 
has  the  better  it  may  be  for  a  book  recording  confessedly  the 
judgments  of  the  men  of  the  past  whose  endorsement  of 
particular  forms  of  expression  has  caused  their  incorporation 
into  literature.  The  standards  for  constructing  a  work  of 
this  sort  are  identical  with  those  of  dictionary-making. 

Again,  there  is  an  order  of  cyclopedias  of  quotations  in 
which  the  editor  assumes  the  function  of  a  connoisseur. 
He  selects  from  accepted  passages  those  whose  form  and 
substance  meet  with  his  special  approval,  and  he  adds  other 
passages  less  known  which  in  his  opinion  seem  worthy  of  a 
similar  incorporation  into  literature.  If  his  taste  and  ability 
are  such  as  to  justify  his  purpose,  the  work  has  itself  some- 
thing of  the  character  of  the  literature  with  which  it  deals. 
It  is  a  true  anthology,  valuable  for  inspiration  as  well  as 
for  reference  and  research. 

A  third  form  of  the  cyclopedia  of  quotations  is  that  in 
which  these  are  confined  to  one  author,  the  purpose  being 
to  present,  in  representative  extracts  from  his  works,  an 
ordered  conspectus  of  his  views,  either  direct  or  implicit, 
on  life  or  nature  or  art  or  Vv'hatever  subject  it  be  upon  which 
he  has  contributed  to  the  world  thoughts  of  enduring  value. 
Such  a  work  is  of  a  higher  class  than  not  only  a  general 
dictionary  of  quotations,  but  also  a  general  anthology.  It 
is,  in  fact,  the  best  form  of  autobiography,  the  unconscious 
rather  than  the  self-conscious  sort ;  in  it  the  essential  spirit 


iv  PREFACE 

of  the  author  is  revealed,  the  obscuring  bulk  of  the  body  of 
his  work  having  been  eliminated,  and  only  those  features 
retained  which  reveal  the  characteristic  gestures  of  the  mind 
and  soul  that  express  personality. 

The  present  book  is  a  work  of  this  last  class.  The  author, 
whose  intellectual  and  spiritual  portrait  it  is  intended  to 
depict  in  a  synthesis  of  his  ideas  and  ideals  as  expressed 
in  literary  form,  is  both  a  philosopher  and  a  poet.  As 
a  teacher  of  aesthetics,  chiefly  the  artistry  of  language  in 
both  oral  and  written  forms,  he  has  exerted  an  influence  over 
thousands  of  young  men,  in  Williams  College  and  Princeton 
and  George  Washington  Universities,  some  of  whom,  among 
them  the  writer,  who  was  his  pupil  and  assistant-teacher 
at  Princeton,  acknowledge  with  gratitude  the  formative 
inspiration  which  they  received  from  personal  contact 
with  him. 

A  far  wider  area  of  influence  he  has  circumscribed  by  his 
books, — a  long  series  of  works  on  aesthetics  comparable 
only  to  those  of  Ruskin  for  scope  of  subject,  consistency  of 
interrelation,  and  originality  of  observation.  The  writer 
has  had  occasion  a  number  of  times,  in  his  capacity  as 
literary  adviser,  to  refer  authors  who  thought  that  they  had 
made  original  discovery  of  vital  principles  in  art,  especially 
poetry,  to  Professor  Raymond's  series  as  expressing  the 
substance  of  their  ideas.  Among  the  disciples  of  his  pen 
are  to  be  found  even  more  enthusiastic  admirers  than 
among  his  former  pupils. 

Professor  Raymond  has  followed  the  principles  of  his 
aesthetic  philosophy,  in  so  far  as  these  apply  to  literature,  in 
the  writing  of  many  poems  upon  widely  varying  subjects  in 
man}^  moods  and  measures.  Through  them  all  run  the  bind- 
ing threads  of  a  consistent  philosophy  both  of  art  and  life. 
This  causes  his  work  to  appeal  especially  to  those  who  read 
poetry  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  inspiration.  It  is  a 
fundamental  principle  of  his  cesthetic  philosophy  that  the 
most  important  function  of  technique  is  to  rid  the  form  of 
the  thought  from  whatever  may  make  it  appear  artificial  or 
unnatural;  from  whatever  may  prevent  a  perfectly  trans- 
parent— not  to  say  luminous — expression  of  the  substance 
of  the  thought.  Consequently  those  readers  who  are  in- 
clined to  estimate  poetry  by  striking  and  eccentric  effects  of 
phraseology  or  arrangement  irrespective  of  any  noteworthy 


PREFACE  V 

ideas  to  which  they  call  attention  may  not  appreciate  his 
writings  in  the  same  degree  as  do  those  who  believe  with 
him  that  language  is  a  vehicle  which  derives  its  chief  value 
from  that  of  the  thought  which  it  conveys. 

Professsor  Raymond's  verse  is  simple  yet  dignified,  direct 
yet  graceful,  and  clear  yet,  so  far  as  he  fulfills  his  own  ideal, 
invariably  imaginative,  his  conception  being  that  nothing 
can  be  expressed  according  to  the  methods  of  art  except  as, 
by  way  either  of  reproduction  or  reference,  the  means  or 
implements  of  expression  are  forms  that  can  be  seen  or 
heard  in  natural  life.  When  poetry  fulfills  this  require- 
ment, its  statements  of  facts  affect  one  like  arguments  from 
analogy,  e.g.: 

In  form  our  frames  but  vehicle  the  soul; 
Yet  by  the  vehicle,  the  world  will  rate  it. 
When  comes  the  splendor  of  the  monarch's  march 
Men  cheer  his  chariot,  not  his  character. 

Dante,  in.,  2. 

Mere  words  are  wind,  nor  all  their  storm  or  stress 
Can  pack  the  air  so  thought  cannot  see  through  it. 

Idem,  n.,  i. 

And  its  records  of  experience  enable  the  reader  to  perceive 
more  than  the  things  described,  because  these  are  con- 
stantly being  likened  to  something  else,  e.g.: 

As  dawn  began 
Erasing  all  the  stars  with  lines  of  light 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xiv. 

While  the  stars  like  sparks  that  linger  where  the  fire  of  sunset  dies. 

Idem:  Dreaming,    11. 

Moreover,  as  a  man  usually  refers  by  way  of  comparison  to 
effects  in  nature  because  these  have  seemed  to  him  to  be 
attractive  or  beautiful,  Professor  Raymond  maintains 
that  in  poetry  beauty  should  usually  characterize  the 
illustration  even  of  subjects  that  in  themselves  have  little 
or  no  beauty;  as,  for  instance,  in  this  reference  to  hostile 
footsteps  heard  through  a  midnight  tempest  in  a  jungle: 

Hark!     There  seems  human  rhythm  in  this  hell. 
What  hot  pursuit  is  it  comes  burning  through 
These  crackling  branches? 

The  Aztec  God,  I. 


vi  PREFACE 

Or  this,  suggested  by  the  approach  of  a  blizzard: 

It  came  like  a  boy  who  whistles  first 
To  warn  of  his  form  that  shall  on  us  burst, 
As  if  nature  feared  to  jar  the  heart 
By  joys  too  suddenly  made  to  start. 

The  Last  Home  Gathering. 

As  applied  to  both  thought  and  description,  Professor 
Raymond  holds  with  Aristotle  that  the  purpose  of  art  is  to 
fulfill  and,  as  it  were,  to  transfigure,  nature — not  copy  her, 
— to  aid  her  to  attain,  by  her  own  methods,  the  ideals 
toward  which  she  is  striving,  as  these  are  divined  by  the 
artist.  Artists  in  general,  and  poets  in  particular,  must 
therefore  possess  the  qualities  of  reverent  observation  and 
spiritual  interpretation,  be  not  only  lovers  and  disciples  of 
nature,  but  prophets  of  the  coming  perfection,  as  well. 
Professor  Raymond  is  such  a  poet;  he  is  an  idealist  whose 
aim  is  the  attainment  of  the  highest  order  of  reality.  This 
is  indicated  by  one  of  his  titles,  "Ideals  Made  Real." 

This  philosophy  of  Professor  Raymond  is  so  evident  in  all 
his  writings  that  there  is  general  agreement  among  the  critics 
of  his  books  that  he  has  a  noble  message  to  impart,  and  a 
clear  and  consonant  manner  of  delivering  it.  That  he  will 
grow  in  the  esteem  of  lovers  of  high  thinking  and  fine 
feeling  and  inevitably  become  recognized  as  one  of  the 
truest  and  best  of  modern  poets,  is  also  a  prevalent  opinion 
among  those  reviewers  who,  wearied  with  the  ever  increas- 
ing roll  of  the  "idle  singers  of  an  empty  day,"  hail  with 
ardor  the  advent  of  a  poet  who  can  show  us  the  fullness  of 
life, — phases  of  every  part  of  it — brimming  with  beauty 
and  saturated  with  spirituality.  It  was  a  critic  of  this 
order  who  said  in  reviewing  "A  Life  in  Song":  "Some  day, 
Dr.  Raymond  will  be  universally  recognized  as  one  of  the 
leaders  in  the  new-thought  movement.  .  .  .  He  is  a  poet 
in  the  truest  sense.  His  ideals  are  ever  of  the  highest,  and 
his  interpretation  is  of  the  clearest  and  sweetest.  He  has 
richness  of  genius,  intensity  of  human  feeling,  and  the 
refinement  of  culture.  His  lines  are  alive  with  action, 
luminous  with  thought  and  passion,  and  melodious  with 
music." 

It  is  with  this  faith  in  the  enduring  value  and  growing 
appreciation    of    Professor    Raymond's    poetry    that    the 


PREFACE  vii 

present  book  of  selections  from  his  works  has  been  com- 
piled. This  has  been  done  with  his  thorough  approval 
and  invaluable  assistance.  The  passages  quoted,  though 
abounding  in  phrases  and  lines  characterized  by  those 
classic  qualities  of  outer  sensuous  beauty  and  inner  spiritual 
truth  which  invite  remembrance  and  repetition  have  not 
been  selected  mainly  for  these  reasons,  but  for  the  impor- 
tance of  the  sentiments  expressed  in  them,  and  the  revela- 
tion that  they  afford  of  the  author's  attitude  toward  "the 
world  without  and  the  world  within."  Indeed,  in  many 
cases  it  is  the  paragraph  as  a  whole  which  will  be  treasured 
by  the  reader,  and  recalled  as  much,  perhaps,  in  mood  and 
thought  as  in  form  of  expression. 

The  contents  of  the  volume  have  been  arranged  in  the 
alphabetic  order  of  their  subjects,  thereby  rendering  them 
available  without  an  index.  The  book  thus  forms  in  both 
the  subjective  and  objective  senses  of  the  phrase  "a  poet's 
cabinet,"  being  an  ordered  collection  of  representative 
specimens  of  the  work  of  a  poet,  intended  for  the  use  and 
enjoyment  of  everyone  who  in  spirit  if  not  in  rite  is  himself 
a  votary  of  the  Muses.  That  the  devotees  of  these  divini- 
ties are  increasing  rapidly  in  number  is  indicated  by  the 
recent  organization  of  poetry  societies,  publication  of 
poetry  magazines,  and  repeated  printings  of  collections  of 
verse  by  single  authors,  as  well  as  general  anthologies,  new 
and  old. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  present  work  will  find  its  share  of 
readers  among  this  select  class  upon  whom  the  benison 
still  rests  which  was  uttered  by  Theocritus  of  Sicily, 
consecrated  priest  of  the  Muses. 

In  solemnly  affirming  his  devotion  to  these  goddesses  of 
Song  he  said, 

"  Beloved  are  they  by  me,  for  him  who  is  loved  by  the  Muses 
Circe  can  never  degrade  to  grovelling  uses 

With  the  magical  draught  she  infuses." 

Marion  Mills  Miller. 

The  Authors  Club,  New  York. 


"  The  artist,  the  priest,  the  historian,  the  philoso- 
pher, in  moments  of  discouragement  when  they 
feel  themselves  assailed  by  the  temptation  to  think 
only  of  a  career  or  of  money,  may  well  find  new 
strength  in  the  idea  that  each  of  them  is  working  in 
his  different  way  to  preserve  an  ideal  of  perfection  in 
men's  souls — it  may  be  a  perfection  of  art  or  of 
morality,  of  the  intellect  or  of  the  spirit.  Let  them 
remember  that  this  ideal,  limited  as  it  may  seem, 
serves  as  a  dike  to  prevent  our  civilization  from  being 
engulfed  in  an  overwhelming  flood  of  riches  and  from 
sinking  in  an  orgy  of  brutality.  The  task  is  so  great 
and  so  noble  that  those  who  strive  for  it  ought  surely 
to  feel  that  they  do  not  live  in  vain." — The  conclusion 
and  climax  of  ''Ancient  Rome  and  Modern  America," 
by  Guglielmo  Ferrero,  page  248. 


VUl 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.     The  Author         .         .         .  Frontispiece 

From  a  photograph 

DRAWINGS 
by 
Howard  Chandler  Christy- 
It  is  only  doing  justice  to  Mr.  Christy — and  it  should  enhance  the  in- 
terest in  these  illustrations — to  state  that  they  represent  almost  the  earliest 
of  his  drawings  and  of  the  public's  recognition  of  their  excellence,  having 
been  prepared,  twenty  years  ago,  for  an  edition  of  "  Ideals  Made  Real," 
which,  owing  to  the  financial  depression  of  the  period,  was  not  issued  as 
planned. 


11.  Caused  that  our  school's  head, 

Already  nodding  o'er  his  noonday  pipe, 
Should  beck  at  sever' d  dreams  with  one 

nod  more, 
And  so  consent  to  our  dreams.      .         .       32 

III.  How,  all  its  chairs  made  vacant  one  by 

one, 
Th*  applause  rose  thinner  at  his  bachelor 

club    ......       96 

IV.  Awake,  asleep,  throned  constant   o  'er 

my  heart, 
I  served  this  image  all  intangible, 
This  photographic  fantasy  .         .         .128 
is 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 


V.    That  oft  then  I  recall'd  your  form,  your 
words? 
That  then  I  came  to  do  as  you  would  do, 
And  think  as  you  would  think?     .  .192 

VI.  Would  only  crave. 

When  we  have  so  much  else  in  sympathy, 
That  holy  state  where  two  souls,  else  at 

one, 
Would  both  be  God's.  .         .         .     224 

VII.  With  cravings  pale 

For  church  and  stole  and  sermons  of  my 

own     ......     256 

VIII.     "  I  mean,"  I  breathed  out  cautiously, 

*'  to  write 
A  tale  of  love,  and  I  have  planned  the 

tale 
To  open  here." 288 

IX.    When  autumn  steals  the  sunlight  from 

the  flowers  .....     320 

X.     Storms  of  swift  and  full  distress 
May  make  of  mind  a  wilderness, 
A  flood  of  anguish  bringing.  .         .     354 

XI.  Woman's  grief, 

If  there  be  any  manhood  left  in  him. 
Will   rouse  his  efforts  to   bespeak  her 

peace  ......     384 


A  Poet's  Cabinet 


A   Poet's   Cabinet 


ACCENT  AND  LANGUAGE 

We  speak 
One  language  too,  but  differ  in  the  accent. 
The  language  gives  the  passwords  of  the  race, 
The  accent  keys  the  culture  of  the  home. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

ACCEPTED 

To-night  when  the  sun  had  sunlc  below 

And  the  moonlight  fill'd  the  sky, 
Our  hearts  were  beating  like  wings  that  would  go 

And  glow  with  the  stars  on  high. 

0  surely  our  souls  had  left  the  earth; 
For  a  vague  and  mystic  light 

Hung  over  our  hopes,  and  hush'd  our  mirth, 
And  hid  the  world  from  sight. 

1  had  touch'd  her  hand ;  but  my  soul  within 

Felt  not  the  flesh  that  I  press'd; 
But  the  flow  of  currents  it  knew  were  akin 

To  the  fair  dear  life  of  the  blest. 
And  then  it  was  all  so  easy,  at  last, 

For  me  to  say  what  I  said ; 
As  her  full  bright  eye  she  downward  cast, 

And  turn'd  from  me  her  head. 
She  is  mine,  she  is  mine;  and  the  years  may  go; 

And  the  worlds  may  whirl  where  they  will ; 
But  heaven  is  good,  and  forever  I  know 

Our  hearts  must  have  their  fill. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xlii. 

ACCIDENT,  INTENTIONAL 

An  accident! — 
Like  that  which  follows  from  the  rock  that  falls 
Where  men  who  lie  in  wait  have  loosened  it. 
An  accident- — oh  yes ! — that  plots  to  arm 

I 


a  A  POETS  CABINET 

The  palsied,  shaking,  thought-void  clutch  of  rage, 

And  let  it  loose  to  raise  a  hellish  storm 

Just  where  the  good  have  come  for  heavenly  calm! 

The  lightning  of  your  flashing  blades  fell  not 

By  accident.  Dante,  ii.,  2. 

ACCUSATIONS,  DANGER  OF  PETTY 

That  reminds  me  of  a  hunter  who  pelts  a  cliff  with 
pebbles  that  the  birds  may  fly  from  it,  and  be  shot 
down.  When  ills  are  threatening  conscience,  petty 
accusations,  that  fright  from  paltry  dangers,  often 
prove  the  surest  way  to  make  us  fly  to  great  ones. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

ACTION  AND  THOUGHT,  MEN  OF 

With  him  quick  action  follows  on  the  thought. 

With  me  come  only  talk,  and  then  more  thought. 

He  mounts  to  find  success.     I  prophesy — 

Perhaps ;  but  where  success  is,  at  my  best, 

Am  only  of  the  crowds  that  cheer  it. 

Columbus,  v.,  2. 
Give  monks  the  meed  of  vague  abstraction, 
But  noblest  souls  find  satisfaction, 
And  consciousness  of  Hfe  in  action. 
'T  is  they  that,  where  they  cannot  know, 
Walk  on  by  faith,  who  strengthen  so 
The  faith  by  which  they  further  go. 
'T  is  they  that  try  what  work  can  earn, 
Who  test  their  own  work's  worth,  and  turn 
From  wrong  to  right  for  which  they  yearn. 
'T  is  they  whose  thinking  aids  their  kind, 
Who,  while  they  help  their  brothers,  find 
The  truth  that  most  rules  every  mind. 
And,  while  to  this  they  too  adjust 
Their  lives,  because  they  feel  they  must, 
Their  faith  beholds  the  form  august 
Of  God  behind  each  form  of  dust ; 
For  God's  truth  only  all  men  trust. 
And  so  I  hold  that  work  controls 
The  life  that  blesses  most  our  souls. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  XLII. 

ACTRESS  AS  ACTRESS 

Real  lovers,  hand  in  hand,  may  fail  to  see 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  3 

How  she,  with  feigned  familiarities, 
Can  make  more  firm  my  faith  in  my  ideal. 
Ah,  they  wot  not  that  life  has  left  to  me 
But  dreams  of  that  which  might  be,  not  what  is; 
And,  while  no  dream  holds  her,  I  feel  them  real. 

My  Actress. 

ACTRESS  AS  SWEETHEART 

She  would  live, 
With  faintest  smile,  to  fascinate — ah — crowds! 
The  rabble  would  be  ravish'd  but,  forsooth, 
To  clap  with  crazy  hands  the  rarer  air 
Wherein  she  moved.     For  them  her  voice  would  sound 
With  every  trill  so  swaying  all  who  heard 
That  thronging  cheers  would  thunder  in  response ! — 
Her  form,  so  sweet,  would  plead  till  foulest  lives 
Would  feel  how  pure  were  joys  beyond  their  reach, 
And  long  for  things  their  touch  could  never  taint ! 
My  sweet,  sweet  love !  Ideals  Made  Real,  XL. 

ACTRESS  AS  WIFE 

Alas,  I  could  but  seem — 
Beside  the  gilded  glory  of  the  stage. 
Beside  the  loud-mouthed  suitors  of  the  show, 
An  unwhipt  cur,  to  wait  at  some  backdoor. 
And  jar  with  signalling  bark  the  echo  sweet 
Of  all-the-town's  applause.     She  mine  would  be 
But  as  the  sun,  whose  flaming  brow  has  touch'd 
The  morning  sea  that  flushes  far  and  near. 
Is  thine,  O  trembling  globulet  of  spray, 
Because,  forsooth,  his  image,  glass'd  in  all 
The  sea  and  world,  is  glass'd,  as  well,  in  thee! — 
Fool,  fool!  yet  dear,  dear  folly!  Idem. 

ADMIRATION 

And  what  if  her  heart  should  then  find  sweet 
The  praise  that  her  nature  knows  is  meet? — 
A  flower  may  live  in  its  own  perfume, 
And  why  not  a  maiden  fresh  in  her  bloom 
In  the  sweet  air  shared  by  all  the  wise 
Who  follow  like  fringe  her  beauty's  guise? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxv. 


4  A  POETS  CABINET 

ADVANCE  {see  CHANGE  and  progress) 
Truth's  warriors  in  a  mighty  host  advance, 
Whose  hnes  with  wings  of  infinite  expanse 
Now  rout,  and  now  seem  routed  by  the  foe. 
Smoke-wrapt  amid  the  fight,  no  man  can  know 
If  most  he  should  exult  in  drums  that  beat 
For  forward  movement,  or  for  full  retreat. 
The  line  near  by  him  may  but  backward  roll 
To  shape  the  slow  sure  progress  of  the  whole. 
If  so,  surmising  where  he  can  not  prove 
How  all  things  toward  life's  final  victory  move, 
His  faith  need  not  lose  all  its  confidence, 
Tho'  it  surrender  every  old  defence. 
Heaven's  truth  were  small,  if  naught  it  brings  could  be 
Outside  the  mental  range  of  such  as  we. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  liii. 

ADVANCED  THOUGHT  AND  ACTION 

O  soul,  what  earthly  crown 
Is  bright  as  his  renown 
Whose  tireless  race 
Outruns  the  world's  too  halting  pace. 
To  reach,  beyond  the  things  men  heed. 
That  which  they  know  not  of,  but  need! 
O  soul,  what  man  can  be 
As  near  to  Christ  as  he 
Who  looks  to  life 
Not  first  for  fame  and  last  for  strife; 
But  shuns  no  loss  nor  pain  that  brings 
The  world  to  new  and  better  things  1 

Columbus,  IV.,  2. 

ADVANCE  IN  ART 

In  candor,  my  friend,  you  seem  too  much  at  home 
With  nymphs  of  Olympus  and  gods  of  old  Rome. 
The  world  has  advanced,  and  the  artist,  if  sage, 
Will  seek  to  give  form  to  the  thought  of  his  age. 
The  curve  of  a  limb  and  the  pose  of  a  head 
May  be  all  the  same  in  the  living  as  dead; 
But  she  that  you  woo,  must  have  life  and  be  young, 
And  speak,  ere  you  love  her,  and  speak  your  own 
tongue.  The  Artist's  Aim. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  5 

ADVICE 

In  every  path 
Experience  is  the  warrant  for  advice. 

Haydn,  xxvi. 

ADVICE,  SOMETIMES  AN  ECHO 

Some  people  ask  advice  like  boys  when  shouting 
to  get  an  echo;  and  a  rock  will  give  it. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ill. 

AFFINITY 

Yes,  all  through  life,  whenever  come  in  view 
Those  helper-spirits,  always  on  the  quest 
For  moods  too  like  their  own  moods  to  rebuff 
The  thought  that  is  to  their  own  thinking  true, 
To  know  our  own  twin  angel  from  the  rest, 
One  touch,  one  look,  one  accent  is  enough. 

Our  Affinity. 

Yet  at  times  I  deem  our  souls 
Are  all  of  them  born  in  pairs ; 

And  a  sweet  unchangeable  law  controls 
The  love  that  each  of  them  shares  ; 

And  she,  could  she  only  know  my  mind, 

Might  find  a  love,  so  deep,  so  kind! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xv. 
In  a  single  path  I  see  them  wend ; 
With  one  thought's  weight  I  see  them  bend. 
Brought  face  to  face  with  whispers  low 
From  breath  to  breath  their  secrets  flow. 
And,  as  if  one  stroke  the  sweet  lines  drew, 
The  smile  of  one  is  the  smile  of  two. 
Then  oft,  more  swift  than  a  flashing  ray 
Through  rifting  clouds  at  the  dawn  of  day, 
Through  lifting  lids  a  glance  will  fly, 
All  slight  yet  bright,  from  eye  to  eye ; 
While  like  twin  clouds  one  sunset  flushes 
One  feeling  fills  them  both  with  blushes. 

Idem,  XVI. 
I  have  found  her  face  in  the  crowded  room ; 
And  strange  it  arose  as  a  rose  in  bloom 
In  the  depth  of  a  desert  of  rocks  alone. 
For  I  never  saw  then  a  charm  but  her  own. 

Idem,  XI. 


6  A  POETS  CABINET 

I  have  talk'd  with  her;  and  oft  has  it  seem'd 

As  if  I  had  known  her  long, 
In  a  mystic  realm  of  which  I  have  dream'd, 

In  a  realm  where  speech  is  all  song. 

But  what  has  brought  her,  and  who  can  she  be 
That  reads  me  through  and  through, 

With  the  eyes  of  a  god  that,  turn'd  on  me. 
Knows  all  that  ever  I  knew?  Idem,  x. 

Ah,  did  my  love  but  love  me  well, 

I  scarce  could  need  my  love  to  tell; 

Out  through  my  every  trembling  tone 

Would  thrill  through  her  the  joy  I  own. 

Ah,  did  my  love  but  love  me  well. 

Her  soul  would  need  one  only  spell. 

My  face  would  come,  my  voice  would  call. 

And  these  would  charm  her,  all  in  all. 

Idem,  XXVIII. 

AFFINITY  REVEALED  BY  AFFLICTION 

Soon  as  I  show  my  spirit, 
Your  own  sweet  spirit  which  is  one  with  mine. 
Will  recognize  it,  as  we  both  thank  heaven 
For  cloud  and  storm  and  flash  that  struck  me  down, 
And  heaven  in  life  that  followed  death  in  life. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  Iii.,  i. 

AFFLICTION  (sec  BEREAVEMENT  and  TROUBLE) 

How  often  love  that  loses  earthly  friends, 
Comes  back  from  all  things  outward  toward  itself; 
And  finding  self,  finds  heaven's  design  within? 

ilaydn,  xxix. 
Such  conflicts  come  but  seldom ;  storms  of  spring, 
Uprooting  much,  and  WTacking  much  the  soil. 
They  find  it  frost-bound,  and  they  leave  it  green. 
Alas,  if  grain  or  chaff  grow  then,  depends 
Upon  the  germs  their  rains  have  wrought  upon. 

Idem,  xxxv. 

And  He  who  made  man  what  he  is — ah,  me ! 

To  make  him  what  he  should  be,  more  and  more. 

May  send  the  storms  that  sweep  life's  troubled  sea 
To  bring  from  depths  the  gems  that  line  the  shore. 

Oft  spirits,  rent  within  by  grief  and  sighing. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  7 

Show  each  on  whom  their  inward  treasures  pour 
A  wealth  of  worth  that  long  has  there  been  lying, 
But  not  by  one  about  them  ever  seen  before. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxxiii. 

Ah  me,  to  think  what  all  could  win, 
In  spite  of  natures  prone  to  sin. 
By  working  well  their  wealth  within! — 
For  it,  like  gems  of  priceless  worth, 
That  fill  the  mire  and  mines  of  earth, 
Oft  gains  its  dearness  from  its  dearth; 
Nor  oft  is  got,  until,  at  last, 
The  pick,  or  flood,  or  fire,  or  blast 
Has  rent  the  place  that  held  it  fast. 
Then  wonder  not  that  wreck  and  woe 
Should  be  one's  lot  on  earth  below. 
Kind  heaven  itself  may  open  so 
The  spirit's  depth,  its  worth  to  show. 

Idem:  Doubting,  XLiil. 

AGE,  A  HAPPY,  VS.  UNHAPPPY  YOUTH 

Like  other  earthly  things,  our  lives  move  on 

Half  light,  half  shadow,  and  with  me 

The  shadows  came  in  youth. 

....  Your  brilliancy 

Developed  late,  eh?  like  a  winter's  eve — 

Or  lightning  from  a  cloud.     But  you  are  right. 

This  life  is  like  a  bladder-air-ball.     If 

You  press  its  youth-side  in,  you,  by-and-by. 

Will  bulge  its  age-side  out.        Columbus,  11.,  2. 

AGE,  CONSERVATISM  OF 

Earth's  elders  and  sages, 
Far  off  from  the  place  where  the  springs  all  start. 

Scarce  ever  can  prize 

A  stream  that  supplies 
A  draft  less  far  from  its  font  than  their  age  Is. 
No  deeds  can  course  from  as  grand  a  source 
As  the  life  of  which  they  in  their  youth  form'd  a  part. 

Naught  sparkles  as  bright 

To  them  as  the  light 
Of  an  old,  cold,  frozen,  and  crystallized  art. 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 


8  A  POETS  CABINET 

AGITATION 

My  spirit's  agitation 
So  wrenched  the  links  of  memory  that  they  failed  ^ 
To  hold  together.  Dante,  iii.,  2. 

AGITATOR,  THE 

He  wanders  through  the  state, 
And  prophesies  convulsion  and  reform 
To  those  that  feel  they  have  not  long  to  wait, 

Who  heed  in  him  the  mutterings  of  the  storm. 
He  spends  his  years  in  pleading  and  in  proving, — 

And  every  year  to  more  who  mind  his  call, — 
How  life  on  earth  toward  life  in  heaven  is  moving, 
And  freedom  is  a  gift  that  God  shall  yet  give  all. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxxviii. 

Far  his  feet 
Would  journey  through  the  land  from  town  to  town. 
The  trumpet-blast  of  truth  his  lips  would  blow. 
Though  courting  oft  maltreatment  by  his  pleas. 
Roused   throngs,    erelong,   with   whom   he   march'd 

unarm'd, 
A  champion  of  that  love  of  man  for  man 
Which  cannot  rest  ere  all  have  liberty. 

Idem,  Note  vii. 

AGROUND 

Deep  plow'd  the  cruiser's  prow 

The  broken  waves  below. 
So  bows  a  bull  whose  pride  is  full 

To  toss  a  stubborn  foe. 
She  plung'd  and  reel'd  and  roll'd. 

Ah,  better  had  she  tack'd! 
The  water  flew  the  bulwark  through. 

The  mainmast  bent  and  crack'd. 
The  wind,  it  whistled  there; 

The  boatswain  whistled  here. 
The  captain  swore;  the  mainsail  tore; 

The  jib  had  ript  its  gear. 
A  flood  was  on  the  deck. 

The  crew  were  floundering  round. 
Then,  clean  and  chill,  and  safe  and  still, 

The  cruiser  lay  aground. 

The  Last  Cruise  of  the  Gaspee. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  9 

aim;  not  the  same  for  all 
Oh,  do  not  think  that  heaven  moves  all  alike ! 
Some  minds  are  sighted  for  a  single  aim, 
And  right  for  others  may  be  wrong  for  them ! 

West  Mountain. 

AIM  IN  ART 

While  only  the  light  of  a  coming  ideal 

Lures  those  to  the  good  who  imagine  it  real, 

No  work  can  ever  inspire  the  earth 

That  embodies  no  promise  of  unfulfill'd  worth, 

And  naught  that  the  world  accounts  worthy  of  fame, 

In  art  as  in  act,  but  is  rank'd  by  its  aim. 

The  Artist's  Aim. 

AIMS 

Our  lives  are  finite,  but  the  aims  of  life 
Are  infinite,  and  crowd  on  every  side, 
Whate'er  we  strive  to  reach,  in  thought,  in  deed, 
At  last,  some  one  aim  surely  tips  the  scales; 
As  it  has  weight,  its  rivals  are  thrown  up. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 

AIMS,  HIGH 

I  would  rather  snatch  at  birds  than  dig  for  worms. 

Dante,  I.,  i. 
Can  it  be  true  that  aims  too  grand,  too  high, 
May  miss  the  garden  sought,  where,  hour  by  hour. 
The  fellow- workers  in  new  Edens  meet? 
Can  but  the  small  seed's  growing,  by-and-by, 
Engarland  all  one's  path  with  leaf  and  flower. 
And  keep  the  world  he  lives  in  fresh  and  sweet? 

The  Climber. 
God  gives  each  man 
One  life  where  kindle  feeling,  thought,  and  will; — 
And  bids  him  hold  it  like  a  torch  on  high 
To  light  himself  and  others.     Do  you  claim 
That  he  should  lower  it? 

....  Why,  in  form,  perhaps ; 

And  forms  of  different  shape  hold  torches. 
....  None 

Can  ever  plunge  the  torch  beneath  earth's  mire 
And  keep  it  burning.  Dante,  in.,  2. 


lo  A  POET'S  CABINET 

AIR 

You  know  a  man  may  have  an  air  about  him 

....  Yes,  and  that  which  puffs  up,  makes  a  swell, 
is  bad  air. — No  good  air  in  gas ! 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iii.,  2. 

AIR,  KEEN  AND  BRIGHT 

Every  atom  of  air  is  as  keen  and  as  bright  as  a  dart 
of  a  Cupid  to  tingle  one's  blood  to  a  glow  and  make  one 
in  love  with  all  things.  The  Ranch  Girl,  11. 

ALMS 

What  most  men  want  the  most,  I  think,  is  being 
let  alone;  and  money  enough  to  buy  the  privilege. 

....  Then  give  us  money. 

....  Give  you  money? — A  true  man  wants  not 
alms  but  aid.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  ill.,  3. 

ALONE      {see     COMPANIONSHIP,      LONELY,      and     SELF- 

conquest) 

How  sad,  when  thoughts,  proud  once  to  roam, 

Abused  and  bruised,  came  mourning  home 

With  their  young  ardor  overthrown ! 

How  sad  is  life  that  lives  alone ! 

There  was  a  time,  when,  brave  and  bare. 

The  little  hands,  all  soft  and  spare, 

Claspt  all,  and  hoped  that  love  was  there; 

Not  gloved  in  fear,  claspt  every  thing, 

With  every  rose  to  grasp  a  sting; 

Then  dropt  it,  sad  and  suffering. 

And  what  are  now  those  thoughts  about? 

Oh,  they  have  turn'd  from  deed  to  doubt: 

They  work  within,  if  not  without. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  viii. 
In  life  or  death,  knights  crowned  at  heaven's  high 

throne. 
Pass  up  through  paths  where  each  must  move  alone. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 

Within  himself  when  fierce  the  fight  is  waged. 

Oh,  who  can  aid  the  purpose  thus  engaged! 

The  soul,  unheard,  in  darkness  and  alone. 

Can  never  share  a  contest  all  its  own. 

What  coward  he,  then,  when  the  crisis  nears 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  ii 

Who  cries  for  comrades,  nor  dare  face  his  fears! 
No  comrade's  arm  or  mail  can  ever  screen 
The  coming  conqueror  in  that  strife  unseen. 

Idem. 
Alone,  and  yet  not  lonely.     Be  one  true 
To  his  own  mission,  he  is  in  the  ranks 
With  all  that  move  toward  all  good  ends  that  wait. 

Columbus,  v.,  2. 

AMBASSADOR,  THE  BEST 

No  wise  or  permanently  successful  man  tries  to 
influence  others  against  their  own  judgments  or 
interests.  The  best  ambassador  is  the  one  who  best 
recognizes  that  the  world  is  wide  enough  for  all,  and, 
therefore,  that  what  is  good  for  one  is  good  for  all. 

Where  Society  Leads,  ii. 

AMBITION 

What  an  appetite 
Has  man's  ambition !  all  that  gluts  to-day 
But  bringing  greater  hunger  for  the  morrow; 
A  fire  consuming  all  it  feeds  upon, 
Still  flaming  upward  and  beyond  it  all. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 
He's  the  happy  man  who  holds  his  head  not  higher 

than  his  home. 
'T  is  right  hard  to  stoop  forever. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxvi. 
Let  one,  who  honor  craves,  be  strong 
In  worth,  to  make  dishonor  wrong: 
Or,  if  he  crave  a  sceptre,  find 
A  task  that  fits  a  sovereign  mind. 
Their  high  ambition,  do  not  doubt. 
Is  heaven-directed  and  devout. 
Who  strive,  to  plan,  and  then  work  out 
What  God  has  given  them  souls  to  will; 
With  thankful  heart  remembering  still 
That  shallow  depths  the  soonest  fill. 
And  endless  blessings  wait  in  store 
For  those  alone  who  long  for  more. 

Idem,  Doubting,  xvii. 
A  woman  wrecked  at  sea,  would  better  lash 
The  anchor  to  her  throat,  than  try  to  breast 


12  A  POETS  CABINET 

The  waves  of  life  in  such  a  world  as  this, 
Wed  to  a  man  without  ambition.     She 
Could  not  sink  sooner.  Cecil  the  Seer,  I. 

AMBITION,  AND  OTHERS'  WELFARE 

Where  thrived  ambition  yet,  but  strove  to  build 

Itself  a  monument  by  heaping  up 

That  which,  when  lost,  made  hollow  all  about  it! 

How  many  castles  have  I  seen  in  Europe, 

Where  every  graceful  touch  in  breadth  and  height 

That  formed  the  great  hall's  pride,  seemed  underlined 

As  if  by  shadowy  finger-prints  of  force 

That  snatched  all  from  the  hamlet  at  its  base ! 

Idem. 

AMERICA 

Our  native  land,  we  love  it. 

'T  is  Freedom's  own,  where  reign 
No  t^^rants  throned  above  it 

O'er  serfs  that  wear  their  chain; 
Where  birth  and  wealth  to  worth  give  way, 
And  none  in  camp  or  court  have  sway, 

Except  as  all  ordain. 

America,  Our  Home. 

AMERICAN  WOMEN 

Our  waiting  friends, 
And,  grouped  with  them,  some  ruddy  German  maids 
Whose  deeper  hues  but  finely  rimmed  with  shade 
The  subtler  beauty  of  our  special  hosts. 
These  came  from  out  that  western  world  wherein, 
By  fresher  breezes  and  by  brighter  suns, 
The  Saxon  tissue,  sweeten'd  and  refined, 
Unfolds,  each  season,  more  ethereally. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xv. 

AMIABLE  LOVERS 

It 's  strange  that  the  most  amiable  people  are  the 
very  ones  that  you  girls  seem  to  like  the  least. 

....  Wewant  to  have  people  like  us  not  on  account 
of  their  own  good  traits,  but  on  account  of  ours. 

Where  Society  Leads,  I. 

ANGELS 

Ay,  ay,  as  blest  as  the  angels  are 
That  over  her  pathway  hover, 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  13 

Whose  heaven  is  truly  sweeter  far 
Because  they  feel  they  love  her. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxi. 

ANGER  {see  WORDS  PASSIONATE) 

Were  anger  wise, 
The  face  that  would  its  force  disguise 
Would  not  so  blush  to  feel  it  rise. 

Idem,  Doubting,  iv. 
another's 
None  from  another's  practice  gains  in  skill, 
Or  grows  in  power  of  feeling,  thought,  or  will; 
None  with  another  goes  to  God  in  dreams 
To  seek  the  strength  that  his  lost  strength  redeems. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 
anticipation 
A  coming  glory  casts  a  glow  before  it. 
Those  who  shall  be  the  lords  of  fowldom  gobble 
A  gobble  at  times  before  their  gills  are  grown. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 
appearance,  judging  by 
Where  there  are  so  many  who  think  that  eyesight 
is  the  spring  of  thought,  our  plans  for  them  can  be 
the  best  made  good,  when  we  present  them  with  a 
good  appearance.  You  see,  if  we  dress  up,  and  they 
suppose  we  always  keep  dressed  up,  'tis  not  our  fault. 
We  have  but  done  what  everybody  does;  and  they 
have  not  had  wit  enough  to  know  it. 

On  Detective  Duty,  11. 

appearance  vs.  substance  in  a  witness 

In  a  witness,  one  should  not  forget  that  words,  like 

wine,  are  valued  less  for  what  they  really  are  than  for 

their  fladc  and  label;  and  so  the  best  thing  one  can 

do  for  others  is  in  appearance,  often,  and  not  substance. 

The  Two  Paths,  li. 
appearances,  not  deception  to  all 
I  tell  you  these  men  know  the  world.     To  them 
white  faces  are  no  signs  that  show  white  souls.     For 
them  no  tears  can  wash  away  from  cheeks  the  colors 
painted  on  them  by  the  heart.  Idem. 

APPEARANCES  PUT  ABOVE  ESSENTIALS 

Henceforward,  though  you  know  a  bush  be  poison, 


14  A  POETS  CABINET 

Bid  men  come  pluck  and  gorge  its  pretty  berries; 
And,  if  all  die,  expect  no  blame  for  it — 
You  have  but  carried  out  the  kind  of  thought 
With  which  heaven  filled  the  kind  of  mind  Hke  yours. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 

APPETITE 

The  worst  of  prisoners  is  a  soul 
Severed  from  its  own  realm  by  appetite 
That  lets  naught  pass  that  pays  no  toll  to  greed. 
Mere  soulless  brutes  are  better  than  are  men 
With  souls  that  love  but  that  which  they  can  lust  for. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

APPETITE,  NEVER  SATISFIED 

Men  are  never  satisfied  with  things  as  they  are. 
When  their  throats  are  dry,  they  wet  them  with  a 
drink;  and  when  they  are  wet,  they  dry  them  with 
a  smoke.  The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i.,  2. 

APPETITE,  TO  TEMPTER  OF 

If  I  gulp  not  the  feast  you  gorge  me  on, 
And  bury  all  my  soul  beneath  the  spoils 
Of  foul  and  glutton  appetite — why  then 
I  will  not  prove  the  bloated  beast  you  wish. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

APPLAUSE 

'T  is  not  the  accent  of  this  world's  applause 
That  marks  the  rhythm  of  the  songs  that  fill 
Heaven's  vault,  and,  with  their  sweetness,  well-nigh 

still 
The  wings  of  angels,  tempted  then  to  pause. 

Staking  All. 

....      Ah,  yes,  as  I  remember,  when  I  left, 
I  roused  a  noise  too. 
....       You  have  roused  one  now 
That  all  the  world  will  hear. 
....      You  never  praise 
A  wind,  because  it  makes  the  sea- waves  roar: 
It  may  be  empty,  and  it  may  do  harm. 
A  man  should  judge  men's  noises  at  their  worth. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 

APPLAUSE,  AS  A  LIFE's  REWARD 

Her  soul  had  loathed  applause, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  l$ 

Had  found  her  nature  so  belied,  misjudged, 
Her  life  the  embodiment  of  hollow  sound, 
And  all  surroundings  echoing  back  but  sound, 
Chill  admiration  in  the  place  of  love, 
Her  friends  but  flatterers,  and  herself  unknown. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LXix. 

APPRECIATION 

The  sun  may  find 
Its  image  in  the  dullest  pool. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

APPRECIATION,  THE  WORLD'S  LACK  OF 

A  nation  has  been  made  the  first  on  earth. 
Who  made  it  this,  for  this  deed  has  been  made 
The  last  in  all  that  nation — not  one  shred 
Of  all  his  property,  or  power,  or  rank, 
Stripped  by  injustice  from  him,  when  well  proved 
To  be  injustice,  has  been  given  back, 

A  new  world  has  been  found  of  boundless  wealth; 
And  he  who  found  it,  finds  himself  a  beggar. 
A  king  and  queen  were  throned  o'er  that  new  world. 
Who  throned  them  there,  they  seized  and  bound  in 
chains.  Columbus,  v.,  2. 

APRIL-DAY,  AN 

Can  I  forget 
That  wondrous  April  day  that  set  me  free? 
At  first,  as  though  I  own'd  no  soul  at  all, 
I  seem'd  myself  a  part  of  that  wide  air. 
And  all  things  else  had  souls.     The  very  earth 
Beneath  me  seem'd  alive !  its  pulse  to  throb 
Through  every  trembling  bush !  its  lungs  to  heave 
Where  soft-blown  wind-sighs  thrill'd  the  wooded  hills! 
And  then,  this  great  life  broke  in  many  lives. 
All  one  through  sympathy.     In  lieu  of  clouds. 
The  gusty  breeze  caught  up  the  fluttering  lark 
And  shook  down  showers  of  trills  that  made  bare  rocks 
More  sweet  than  fount-spray 'd  flowers,  while  all  the 

leaves 
Went  buzzing  on  their  boughs  like  swarming  bees. 

Haydn,  viii. 


I6  A  POETS  CABINET 

ARGUMENT  VS.  TESTIMONY 

It  is  no  one's  business,  in  this  world,  to  pound 
away  with  arguments  until  he  has  exhausted  his  own 
breath,  or  benumbed  the  brain  of  the  one  who  differs 
from  him.  It  is  his  business  to  testify  to  the  truth; 
and  then  to  have  faith  enough  in  it  and  in  God  to 
leave  it  to  do  its  own  perfect  work. 

Art  and  Morals. 

ARISTOCRACY 

Away  with  all  the  forms  in  state  or  church 

That  aid  the  aristocracies  of  earth; 
And  make  men  rate  the  bad  or  good  they  search 

By  outward  accidents  of  rank  or  birth. 
Away  with  honoring  spirit  less  than  station. 

And  crowning  men  for  blood,  and  not  for  brain; 
With  testing  worth  by  garb  or  occupation: 

And  letting  vice  by  might  maintain  itself,  and  reign. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lii. 

ARMFUL 

Oh,  one  could  give  a  world  of  common  men 
For  just  one  armful  of  a  man  like  that! 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

ARMS,  A  child's 

Her  little  arms  about  my  neck  seem  adding  to  my 
life  as  much  of  beauty  and  of  sweetness,  too,  as  does 
the  vine  whose  tendrils  cling  about  the  mouldering 
trunk  of  our  old  oak.  On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

ART 

Works  of  chisel,  brush,  and  pen, 
Fit  to  body  forth  the  thoughts  breathed  into  them  by 
Godlike  men. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxxv. 

ART  AND  BEREAVEMENT 

O  God, 
To  save  one's  art  must  love  be  sacrificed? — 
Redeem'd  at  that  price,  art  would  be  too  dear! 

Haydn,  lv. 

ART  AND  NATURE 

You  know  there  were  no  art,  were  there  no  forms 
Of  nature  in  which  art  could  frame  its  tribute. 
But  many  an  artist,  for  this  reason,  fears 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  IJ 

To  emphasize  the  part  he  finds  in  nature 
Lest  it  outdo  the  part  he  finds  in  self; 
So  often  that  which  seems  most  natural 
The  one  thing  is  that  he  will  not  let  seem  so. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

We  read  of  truth  who  spell  from  nature's  page ; 

And  art  can  best  make  out  the  meaning  there ; 

For  't  is  the  artist's  thought  that  finds  each  form 

A  form  of  thought, — imagination's  glass 

That  views  the  infinite  in  the  finite  fact. 

Here  moves  a  man,  you  say.     What  see  you? — man?— 

Nay,  nay;  that  guise  material  fashions  there 

The  image  only  of  his  manliness. 

And  you  can  only  know  his  fife  within, 

As  from  the  image  you  imagine  it. 

Yon  little  girl  that  skips  beside  the  porch, — 

I  know  her,  love  her,  not,  save  as  I  pass 

Behind  that  face  to  reach  a  region  rare 

Where  dolls  are  sentient  babes,  and  brothers  kings. 

And  yonder  maidens,  musing  in  delight, 

I  know  not,  love  not,  till,  in  sacrifice, 

My  spirit  seems  to  yield  to  their  desires, 

To  wait  a  watchful  servant  unto  them. 

To  move  with  motives  that  inspire  their  deeds, 

To  look  through  their  own  eyes  and  see  their  views, 

And  thrill  with  rhythm  when  their  ear-drums  throb; 

Then,  joining  all  with  all,  imagine  thus 

The  movements  of  their  hidden  inner  moods. 

Thus  too,  through  all  of  life,  how  know  we  more? 

All  things  are  fitful  images  alone. 

Reflecting  glory  from  the  Absolute; 

And  he  who  can  imagine  from  the  part 

What  marks  the  whole,  walks  in  the  light  of  heaven. 

Find  then  a  life  where  every  child  becomes 

Earth's  animated  toy  of  manliness. 

Each  man  the  mass  from  which  to  mould  a  god. 

And  earth  the  pit  whence  all  heaven's  wealth  is  mined, 

You  find  for  thought  a  life  worth  living  for, 

A  life  the  artist  gives  us :  it  is  he 

Discerns  a  spirit  always  veil'd  in  shape, 

A  soul  in  man,  and  reason  everywhere. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxi. 


18  A  POET'S  CABINET 

ART  AND  TRUTH 

When  emotion  swells  and  shrinks, 
The  spirit's  wings  are  moving,  .  .  , 
And  that  art  moves  them  most,  which  mirrors  most 
The  life  that  is,  and  therefore  is  the  truth.  Idem, 

ART,  ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  CHARACTER 

And  things  there  are  that  art  can  do  for  man 

To  make  him  manlier.     Not  the  senseless  rock 

Is  all  it  fashions  into  forms  of  sense ; 

But  senseless  manhood,  natures  hard  and  harsh, 

Great  classes  crush' d,  and  races  driven  to  crawl 

Till  all  their  souls  are  stain'd  with  smut  and  soil, — 

More  human  seem  these  when  the  hands  of  art 

Have  grasp'd  their  better  traits  and  hold  them  forth. 

And  men  who  see  these  better  traits,  and  see 

The  tender  touch  of  art  that  holds  them  forth, 

Behold  a  beauty  never  else  beheld; 

And  all  their  hearts  beat  more  humanely  while 

They  heed  the  plea  of  these  humanities. 

Idem,  XLVii. 

ART,  MAKING  THE  IDEAL  REAL 

The  Sistine  Babe  it  was,  we  spoke  of  Him. 
Because  I  find  art's  glass,  when  rightly  held, 
Revealing  through  the  real  the  truth  ideal, 
I  said:  "I  seem  to  see  not  only  Him, 
The  Babe,  but  back  of  Him,  His  heavenly  home. 
I  seem  to  enter  this — His  handmaid  there. 
And  there  commune  until  my  soul  is  blest." 
I  said:  "From  thence  my  spirit  seems  to  come, 
And  feel  its  arms  to  be  the  throne  of  Christ. 
And  this,"  I  said,  "is  wrought  for  me  by  art. 
Some  hold  that  souls  transmigrate  after  death. 
But  art,"  I  said,  "makes  mine  transmigrate  here." 

Idem,  XVI. 

ART,  MODELLED  UPON  NATURE 

And  truth  is  in  nature,  nor  dealt  second-hand 
Through  art,  though  most  artful  to  fill  the  demand. 
So  think  of  the  present,  its  deeds  and  its  dreams, 
As  Raphael  thought,  but  not  Raphael's  themes; 
Nor  be  a  Venetian  to  picture  like  Titian 
A  woman  to  worship  or  goddess  to  kiss. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  19 

You  are  a  new- world's  man:  model  from  this. 

The  Artist's  Aim. 

ART,  NEW  PHASES  OF 

The  wants  of  the  present,  one  never  can  gauge 
By  the  heathenish  tastes  of  a  heathenish  age. 
The  mummy  lived  once,  and  spoke  as  it  ought. 
We  moderns,  forgetting  its  life  and  its  thought, 
For  lost  art  sighing,  too  oft  re-array 
What  is  only  a  corpse,  and  ought  to  decay. 
E'en  if  it  were  living,  long  centuries  fraught 
With  progress  in  action  and  feeling  and  thought 
Outgrow  the  old  charms,  and  make  the  world  crave 
New  phases  of  art  that  the  past  never  gave.       Idem. 

ART,  SUGGESTIVE  OF  THE  HIGHEST  TRUTH 

If  the  mere  forms  of  nature  can  suggest  the  infinite, 
the  eternal,  the  absolute,  and  much,  also,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  character  of  the  Life  of  which  these  are 
attributes,  then  the  forms  of  art,  even  though  they 
be,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  no  more  than  imitations 
of  those  of  nature,  can  do  the  same. 

The  Representative  Significance  of  Form,  11, 

ART,  THE,  OF  LIFE 

The  ideal! 
Henceforth  our  aim  be  this, — the  art  of  Hfe. 
I  saw  it  not  before ;  the  stage  of  spirit 
So  much  more  broad  is  than  the  stage  of  sense ! 
Comes  on  the  soul  now,  actor,  all  divine, 
At  play  no  longer;  nay,  but  shadowing  forth 
A  love  complete  that  personated  a  God ! 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxxiv. 

ART  vs.  NATURE,  ENDURING  INTERESTS  OF 

The  works  of  human  art  may  lose  their  charm. 
The  picture,  statue,  building,  wear  no  mail 
That  can  resist  the  subtle  shafts  of  time. 
Their  brightest  color  fades,  their  bronze  corrodes, 
Their  carving  crumbles,  and  their  marble  falls. 
Oft,  too,  when  one  has  wandered  far  from  home, 
And  craves  the  things  he  once  thought  wrought  so  well, 
The  soul's  enlargement  of  the  treasures  missed 
That  each  may  fit  a  niche  of  larger  longing 
Will  make  all  seem,  when  seen  again,  but  small, 


20  A  POETS  CABINET 

And,  tested  by  the  touch  of  present  fact, 
But  fabrics  of  a  dream  conjured  by  fancy. 
Not  so  with  works  of  Nature.     Years  that  pass 
May  make  the  field  more  brilliant  with  more  flowers, 
The  ore  more  precious,  and  the  cave  more  vast, 
And  every  mount,  at  our  renewed  return. 
Soar  higher  like  thick  smoke  above  a  flame 
Fanned  into  ardor  by  the  panting  breath 
Of  fleet-sped  winds  that  rush  to  its  embrace. 

Greylock. 
art's  proof 
Art's  proof  is  in  the  setting.     Judge  by  that. 
For  a  Book  of  Contributions  from  A  uthors. 

ASCETICISM 

That  slattern  of  the  soul, 
Asceticism,  shuffling  toward  far  bliss. 
Slipshod  and  snivelling? — 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xlix. 
What  of  those 
Who  deem  it  wise  to  keep  themselves  in  shade, 
Held  as  a  shield  to  ward  away  the  light 
With  every  ray  of  color  that  might  reach  them, 
As  if  they  thought  it  their  worst  enemy? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

ASCETICISM  CARICATURED 

Who  ever  saw  thee  decked  in  vain  attire? 

Or  thee  not  grave  and  gray? 

Or  heard  thee  romp? 

Or  thee  hilarious? 

Or  found  thee  once  the  to}''  of  giddy  fancy? 

Or  thee,  of  disconcerted  calculation? 

None  ever! — Yet  I  fear  this  path. — I  thought 
I  heard — and  oh,  I  dared  then  Hsten  twice ! — 
I  thought  I  heard  strange  singing — 
....  Birds?— I  thought 

I  saw — and  oh,  I  dared  then  look  there  twice! — 
I  thought  I  saw  a  wicked,  grinning  ape. 
....  Hush,   hush!    Think  not   of  these  things. 

Nay,  but  think 
Of  things  that  God  hath  made.  Idem,  ii.,  2. 

The  colors  on  the  leaves,  the  very  sky, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  21 

Seem  sadly  gay. 

....  Oh,  do  not  look  at  them! 

They  glow  to  tempt  the  lusting  of  the  eye. 

Idem. 

ASPIRATION 

A  wingless  hand 
Lifts  only  to  a  wingless  height.     A  rdle 
Not  past  the  common  reach  of  common  men 
Cannot  incite  uncommon  aspiration. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

Our  aspirations,  which,  as  grandly  they  evolve, 
Light  the  brow  of  meek  conjecture  with  the  flush  of 
bold  resolve.         A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  ii. 

0  they  know,  when  aspiration  sweeps  them  onward 

through  the  sky. 
That  the  outward  Hfe  could  never  give  the  inward 

life  the  lie ; 
Know  no  heaven  would  draw  them  on,  or  give  them 

power  to  heed  its  call. 
If  indeed  the  love  and  duty  due  to  earth  were  all  in 

all; 
Know  no  soul  could  ever  tremble,  touch' d  as  by  an 

organ's  key. 
If  the  spirit's  life  that  touch'd  it  were  a  life  that  could 

not  be; 
Know  no  soul  could  dream  a  dream  set  free  from  all 

that  flesh  can  bind, 
If  within  were  naught  to  vibrate,  like  to  like  and  kind 

to  kind.  Idem,  Watching,  xxvii. 

Oh,  have  you  never  felt  within  the  soul 
Desires  that  search  far  off  in  thoughts  that  steal 
All  rest  from  sleep  through  dreams  and  revery; 
As  if  the  spirit  in  its  loneliness 
Were  haunted  by  some  long-lost  sympathy. 
And  struggling  to  regain  the  sunder' d  state? — ■ 
Deem  not  to  end  these  wants  by  earthly  gains. 
While  seeking  them,  the  boy  would  be  a  man. 
Maids  blush  for  maidenhood,  and  lovers  kneel. 
Then  fiercely  strive  for  wealth  and  power  and  fame. 
But,  tho'  they  know  it  not,  they  ever  strive 
For  gains  that  loom  beyond  their  earthly  sphere, 


22  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Until  their  wasted  energies  give  way, 

Or  mount  earth's  thrones  to  feel  they  rule,  alas, 

Like  Alexander,  only  vanity. 

For  ah,  their  spirits  crave  the  Infinite, 

Nor  can  be  sated  save  by  that  embrace 

Which  makes  them  one  with  God. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  XLI. 

ASPIRATION  AND  HUMAN  LIMITATIONS 

The  while  my  soul  has  longed  to  rise 
Successfully  as  field  and  cliff  and  tree 
To  heights  where  one  could  dwell  above  a  world 
Whose  common  life  appeared  but  all  too  common, 
Its  aims  too  low  for  love  to  seek  and  honor. 
And  yet  a  world  in  which  my  own  self,  too. 
My  body,  spirit,  all,  bore  part  and  share. 

West  Mountain. 

ASPIRATION  OF  THE  SPIRIT 

There  is  one  only  mission  fit  for  man, — 
To  be  a  spirit  ministering  to  spirit. 
What  fits  for  this? — A  breath  of  higher  sky, 
A  sight  of  higher  scenes,  at  times,  a  strife 
To  mount  by  means  impossible  as  yet. 
What  then? — Believe  me  that  the  spirit-air, 
Like  all  the  air  above  the  soil  we  tread. 
Takes  to  its  own  environment  of  light 
No  growth  to  burst  there  into  flower  and  fruit 
That  does  not  get  some  start,  and  roob  itself 
Amid  this  lower  world's  deep,  alien  darkness, — 
No  spirit  uses  wings  in  heaven  that  never 
Has  learned  of  them,  or  longed  for  them,  on  earth. 

Berlin  Mou7itain. 

ASPIRING 

Earth  only  shoos  or  shoots  a  bird ; 

To  draw  its  wealth,  it  yokes  the  herd. — 

But  few  are  those  not  tiring 

Of  natures  too  aspiring. 
The  common  leaders  of  the  day 
Amid  the  common  people  stay. 

Who  but  confide 

In  those  that  guide 
Along  the  common  way.  The  Idealist. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  23 

ASS 

A  grazing  ass  that  kicks  but  grass 
Has  tricks  that  yet  may  kill. 

How  Barton  Took  the  General. 

ASSOCIATES,  EVIL 

Lay  hands  on  me,  not  I  alone  will  have 

A  score  of  masters.     Look  you  to  your  mates. 

You  pledged  yourselves  to  stand  together?     What? — 

Have  you,  or  you,  no  foe  in  all  this  crew? 

And  now  you  place  your  life  in  that  foe's  hands? 

When  all  he  needs  to  raise  himself  in  Spain 

Is  telling  truth? — no  more? — Humph!     Will  he  not 

tell? 
Ay,  kill  me,  drown  me,  I  shall  be  avenged. 
When  bad  men  band,  then  traitors  fill  the  camp ; 
And,  if  a  fair  foe  fail,  the  foul  will  not. 
For  in  that  fight  are  God  and  devil  both. 

Columbus,  III.,  2. 

ASSOCIATION 

Nothing  keeps  a  man  from  going  down  like  trying 
to  keep  side  by  side  with  those  who  are  high  up. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  I. 

ATTIC 

My  attic  here 
That  shields  me  like  a  soul  in  clouds, 
When  one  has  left  the  grave's  white  shrouds 
And  crawling  worms  that  gnaw'd  his  heart, 
Ere  he  and  things  of  earth  did  part. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxxii. 

ATTRACTIVE 

Have  you  observed  which  maid  it  is  that  proves 
The  most  attractive  to  the  most  men? 
....  No. 

Tell  which?     Yes,  tell  us. 
....  Why,  of  course,  the  one 
The  most  attractive  to  the  most  of  them. 
You  see  that  most  men  are  such  apes 
They  never  know  which  girl  to  go  for  next, 
Until  they  see  where  some  one  else  has  gone. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 


24  A  POETS  CABINET 

AUTUMN  (see  FALL  and  mountain  view) 

AWE 

When  we  disembark 
Our  hands  will  plant  the  cross  just  where  we  land. 
And  now — you  seem  exultant — I  confess 
To  awe  like  that  which  Moses  must  have  felt 
When  God's  own  hand  had  touched  him  as  it  passed. 
I  cannot  stand — nay,  let  me  kneel  with  you. 

Columbus,  III.,  2. 

BABES 

But  babes  in  homes,  like  buds  that  bloom  in  bowers, 
Keep  out  the  sunlight  but  with  hues  that  hold  it  there. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xv. 
All  men  are  babies  of  a  larger  growth ;  and  take  our 
good  things  as  these  do  a  bath.  They  shrink  from  it, 
at  first,  but  forced  to  it,  they  feel  so  good  they  know 
how  good  are  we  who  give  it  to  them. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  in. 

BACHELOR 

And  I  confess  that,  while  this  light  of  love 
Plays  lambent  round  so  many  glowing  lips, 
I  feel  as  chill,  and  lost,  and  out  of  place, 
As  one  lone  dew-drop,  prison'd  in  a  shade 
Of  universal  noon.  Ideals  Made  Real,  v. 

He  was  not  loath  to  be  left  there  with  the  ladies; 
and,  while  he  was  left  there,  you  may  rest  assured 
that  he  did  not  slight  his  opportunities.  His  eyes, 
as  became  one  fresh  from  a  school  in  which  he  had 
been  trained  to  watch  the  acts  of  those  each  side  of 
him,  were  working  vigorously.  He  had  noticed  soon 
the  sizes  of  these  young  ladies'  hands  and  arms,  and 
how  they  used  them;  the  backs  of  their  heads,  and 
how  they  had  done  up  their  hair,  as  well  as  many 
other  little  arrangements  and  adjustments,  traits  and 
graces,  that  can  be  revealed  best  when  a  woman  is  at 
work,  and  which,  when  they  have  been  revealed  to  a 
bachelor,  are  apt  to  make  him  feel  that  he  has  been 
placed  on  a  footing  of  especial  intimacy  with  her. 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  ii. 

BACK,  TURNING  ONE's 

A  generous  mind  is  never  loath  to  face 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  25 

The  object  of  its  benefaction.     No ; 
Had  all  that  they  have  done  been  kindly  done, 
They  would  not  thus  have  turned  their  backs  upon  me. 

The  Aztec  God,  ill. 

BAD,  LET  LOOSE 

When  you  tap  your  bad,  it  flows  like  tides  from 
flooded  dykes — to  loose  an  endless  ocean.  To  be  safe, 
one  ought  to  dam  himself  up  at  the  start. 

On  Detective  Duty,  in. 

BAD,  THE,  HARMS  MORE  THAN  THE  GOOD  HELPS 

It  seems  as  if  our  good  deeds  all  are  written  against 
the  light  of  heaven  in  light;  and  few,  and  often  none, 
can  see  them.  Bad  deeds  are  written  there  in  black; 
and  one  spot  makes  a  blotch  of  all  things. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

BALANCE 

If  off  his  balance,  balance  him,  ay,  ay' — 
Get  even  with  him — no  great  task  for  you ! 

Columbus,  II,,  2. 

BALANCED  CONTRARIES  OF  MOODS 

My  moods  moved  on, — life's  usual  way. 
The  mainspring  sped  by  balanced  contraries, 
And  every  pulse,  whose  beating  proves  we  live, 
Anon  with  deathHke  voids  alternating. 
One  hour,  my  faith  in  her  was  like  the  sun. 
The  next,  my  doubt  was  lightless  as  the  night. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxiv. 

BANISHMENT 

"  Did  you  ever  dream 

A  fate  like  mine? — a  civic  leper,  Cino, 
Turned  out  of  his  own  home  because  a  pest; 
And  then  declared  a  pest  to  every  home 
That  still  would  welcome  him.     This  final  blow, 
It  snaps  the  only  staff  remaining  now 
From  which  my  soul  could  wave  a  single  signal. 
Worse  off  am  I,  than  were  a  soldier  slain, 
Ay,  than  a  traveler  in  a  tiger's  den. 
If  but  these  limbs  were  plucked  out,  one  by  one, 
I  were  not  doomed  to  live  on  then  alone. 
An  alien  to  all  comrades,  conscious  ever 
That  to  oppose  the  currents  coursing  round 


26  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Were  vain  as  efforts  of  mere  spurting  spray 
To  still,  a  surging  ocean.     Oh,  my  God! — 
To  live,  yet  be  too  frail  to  do  the  work 
That  makes  a  life  worth  living!        Dante,  III.,  2. 

BARD,  COMIC 

Or  when  sad  souls  the  wine  would  quaff 
Of  mirth  brimm'd  bubbling  o'er  with  laugh, 
What  sparkling  draughts  in  their  behalf, 

The  comic  bard  comes  bringing! 
And  ever,  round  the  social  board, 
As  full  the  foaming  pledge  is  pour'd. 
See  how  good-will  the  heart  could  hoard 

Is  lavish' d  with  the  singing.     A  Song  on  Singing. 

BARKING 

This  devil's  cur,  abuse. 
Is  ever  barking  at  my  heel. 
Provoking  sighs  I  should  conceal. 
And  making  all  my  reason  reel. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  IV. 

BASHFULNESS 

You  have  such  awful  eyes. 

They  hush  him  so  his  inward  soul  stops  thinking; 
And  then  his  outward  mien  plays  pedagogue 
And  whips  himself  to  make  himself  behave. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 
Just  think  how  hot  he  must  be  in  his  heart 
To  make  him  warp  and  shrink  up  as  he  does 
When  you  come  near.  Idem. 

BASHFULNESS  OF  LOVE 

Love,  like  God, 
So  brightly  dear  is  it,  that  lives  like  ours. 
Poor  vapory  lives,  mere  dews  before  the  dawn, 
Dare  not  to  face  it  lest  we  melt  away? 

Haydn,  xvi. 

BASHFULNESS,  THE  SOURCE  OF  INSULT 

Because  my  soulless  will  has  made  me  brute, 
And  kept  me  staring  like  a  pointer-cur 
As  if  to  turn  to  prey  the  very  one 
I  most  revere,  must  then  my  voice,  forsooth, 
Bark  out  an  insult  in  the  same  direction? 

Dante,  I.,  I. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  27 

BATTLE  {see  war) 
And  not  for  self,  but  others, 
True  men  to  battle  go. 
No  longer  meek, 
Where  wrong  is  cruel,  right  is  weak, 

Or  aught  has  brought  the  base  to  band, — 
They  throng  to  lend  a  hand. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  2. 

BATTLE  WITH  BOW  AND  ARROW 

We  just  had  drawn  our  bows,  each  arrow  aimed 

To  wedge  eternal  stillness  in  between 

Unhinging  joints  of  some  affrighted  heart. 

When  down  upon  us  burst  that  thunder-flash. 

The  shock,  so  sudden,  glanced  the  arrows  up 

As  if  to  shoot  them  in  the  face  of  gods 

Asail  the  clouds  in  yon  black  gulf.     It  gave 

Their  men  their  chance.     With  one  wild  yell  and 

bound 
They  closed  like  smoke  about  the  lightning's  fire; 
And,  all  with  darts  whirled  on  like  sparks  before 
A  flame  that  followed,  they  came  roaring  on 
To  fill  the  gaps  their  shots  had  made. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

BAY 

And  reach  the  wharves,  and  watch  the  water  still. 
Or  ships  about  it  sail'd  with  subtle  skill. 
Long  charm'd  he  knew  not  why;  and  there  would  stay 
Till  sunset's  fire  his  glowing  heart  would  thrill. 
Whose  throbs  within  seem'd  felt  as  far  away 
As  bells'  whose  echoes  broke  like  breakers  round  the 
bay.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lvii. 

BEAU 

Some  women  like  a  man  that  truckles  to  them, — a 
beau  that  bends  the  way  that  he  is  pulled.  But  in  a 
modern  camp  the  thing  most  needed  is  not  a  bow,  I 
think,  but  bayonet. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ill, 

BEAUTIFUL 

Ay,  sometimes  things  may  be  so  beautiful. 

And  fill  the  spirit  with  such  holy  thrills, 

To  doubt  their  truth  were  kin  to  doubting  God, 


28  A  POET'S  CABINET 

When  face  to  face  with  his  own  blazing  presence. 

Dante,  ii.,  2. 

BEAUTIFUL,  THE,  SUBJECT  TO  TEMPTATION 

Ghouls  like  her  can  never  look  on  what  is  beautiful 
without  a  strange,  unconscious  jealousy  that  turns 
what,  in  a  pure  mind,  would  be  love  to  morbid  hatred, 
hankering  to  play  hell.  Their  ways  would  almost 
warrant  joy  in  heaven  when  all  were  singing  impre- 
catory psalms.  The  Two  Paths,  ill. 
BEAUTY  (see  IDEAL  and  ideals) 
Nothing  of  sweetness  can  fill  the  air, 

Nothing  of  beauty  bloom. 
Save  as  visions  of  life  more  fair 
Over  the  spirit  loom. 

Musician  and  Moralizer. 
Everything  in  art  or  nature,  robed  in  rich  or  rude 

attire. 
Gains  in  beauty  while  it  gains  in  power  to  lure  a  pure 

desire. 
Surface  claims  may  charm  the  senses,  but  the  spirit 

from  its  throne 
Waives  away  all  other  suitors  for  what  charms  itself 
alone.  A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  li. 

All  beauty  changes  what  it  brightens. 
A  flower  that  blooms  may  merely  fall  to  soil, 
But,  when  it  does,  the  soil  to  which  it  falls 
Is  never  quite  the  same  it  was  before. 

Dante,  il.,  2. 
No  beauty  was  ever  revealed  in  art 
Where  rhythm  and  tone  or  color  and  line 

Did  not  combine; 
And  beauty  of  life  was  never  one's  own 
Who,  when  he  had  sought  it,  sought  it  alone. 

Love  and  Life,  l. 
The  dim- veiled  beauty  of  God's  holiness 
Looms  always  through  art's  holiness  of  beauty. 

In  the  Art  Museum. 
I  judged 
Your  spirit  by  the  beauty  of  its  body ; 
And  that  seemed  so  at  one  with  what  I  fancied 
I  could  not  doubt  that  it  would  prove  at  one — 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  29 

Could  we  but  know  each  other,  through  and  through — 
With  all  my  soul  that  had  conceived  the  fancy. 

Dante,  iii.,  i. 
Henceforth,  let  beauty's  beams  but  gleam  for  me, 
I  shall  not  shun  them,  as  has  been  my  wont, 
But  make  my  eyes  a  sun-glass  for  my  heart. 
And  let  them  burn  it.  Ideals  Made  Real,  v. 

Can  her  eyes  have  ever  beheld  my  frame, 
Transfigur'd  by  a  glow 
From  foot  to  face 
Of  beauty  and  grace, 
As  I  see  her? — Yet  the  halo  came, 
Or  she  had  not  lov'd  me  so. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XLiv. 
The  hands  of  beauty  when  they  touch  and  thrill  us 
All  leave  their  imprint  on  ideas,  and  thus 
We  get  ideals.  Dante,  i.,  i. 

In  realms  of  right 
With  no  such  charms  is  wrong  indued; 
All  beauty  is  the  halo  bright, 

The  coming  glow  of  God  and  good. 

Her  Haughtiness. 

BEAUTY,  THE  ULTIMATE,  SOUGHT  BY  ART 

But,  sure 
As  days  roll  up  the  sun,  an  hour  must  come 
When  blazing  blasts  again  shall  shake  these  peaks, 
Shall  pile  them  higher,  level  them  to  plains, 
Or  melt  them  back  to  primal  nothingness. 
Meantime  their  mission  shall  be  what  it  is: 
To  teach  the  world,  not  rest  but,  restlessness, — 
The  aspiration  and  the  aim  of  art 
That  will  not  bide  contented  till  the  law 
Of  thought  shall  supersede  the  law  of  things, 
And  that  which  in  the  midnight  of  this  world 
Is  but  a  dream  shall  be  fulfilled  in  days 
Where  there  is  no  more  matter,  only  mind, 
And  beauty,  born  of  free  imagination, 
Shall  wait  but  on  the  sovereignty  of  spirit. 

West  Mountain. 

BEAUTY,  WHEN  COMPLETE  AND  IDEAL 

Beauty  is  complete  and  ideal  in  the  degree  only  in 


30  A  POETS  CABINET 

which  those  results  of  it  attributable  to  effects  upon 
the  ear  or  eye  are  combined  with  those  attributable  to 
effects  upon  the  mind.  Art  in  Theory ,  xiii. 

BEES,  BUZZING 

Men  swarm'd,  like  bees,  to  buzz  before, 
Prepar'd  to  die,  they  stung. 

The  Lebanon  Boys  in  Boston. 

BELGIUM 

The  snappish  gales  that  fret  the  channel's  waves 

Whirr'd  soon  the  traveller  toward  the  Belgian  shore; 
Whose  belfries  peal  each  hour  that  labor  craves 

Full  half  an  hour  before  the  hour  is  o'er. 
What  thrift  her  fields  evince!  her  art  what  beauty! 

But  would  her  strong,  rough  Rubens  had  but  guess'd 
The  joy  a  wise  man  finds,  as  well  as  duty. 

In  making  art  portray  fair  nature  at  her  best. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  XLil. 

BELLOW,  BRAINS  THAT 

These  brains  that  bellow  so  about  their  pains, 
Prove  mainly  their  own  lack  of  brawn  to  bear  them. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

BELLS   OF  THE  TOWN 

Then,  when  the  morn  was  breaking, 

On  every  hill  and  plain. 
In  all  the  towns,  we  toll'd  the  bells, 
That  all  began  with  doleful  knells. 

As  though  for  Freedom  slain. 
Anon,  they  rang  out  madly 

What  might  have  peal'd  to  be 
The  land's  alarm-bell — only  now 
They  peal'd  to  hail  the  new-born  vow 

Of  men  that  would  be  free. 

Our  First  Break  with  the  British. 

BENEVOLENCE  SHOULD  NOT  BE  UNLIMITED 

....     Why,  he's  given  his  property  away. 

....     Given  everything  away? 

....  Oh,  no;  not  everything!  Not  such  a  fool  as 
that!  Not  such  a  sponge,  either!  To  live  at  the 
expense  of  the  public  in  an  almshouse  makes  a  man  as 
much  of  a  public  nuisance  as  to  live  in  the  same  way 
in  a  palace. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  3I 

....  But,  in  this  case,  the  judgment  involves 
what  seems  rather  compHcated.  You  are  not  choosing 
between  poverty — or,  say,  socialism — on  the  one  side, 
and  wealth — or,  say,  aristocracy — on  the  other  side. 
You  are  trying  to  take  a  little  from  both  sides. 

....  Yes;  because  both  sides  are  made  up  of 
parts,  and  I  don't  think  my  judgment  will  have  done 
its  perfect  work  until  it  has  tried  to  distinguish  be- 
tween some,  at  least,  of  these  parts.  A  rational  mind 
discriminates  and  selects,  and  discards  only  what's 
of  no  use.  Well,  I  try  to  be  rational.  So,  on  the  one 
hand,  I  don't  accept  socialism  as  a  whole;  because  I 
believe  in  personal  responsibility.  I  think  every  man 
has  a  right  to  the  stimulus  that  comes  from  knowing 
that  his  own  diligence  and  thrift  will  obtain  for  him 
certain  possessions  that  he  can  call  his  own;  and  can 
keep  as  his  own;  and,  by  and  by,  when  unable  to 
work,  can  use  for  the  support  of  himself  and  his  family. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  I'm  not  an  aristocrat  because 
I  believe  in  communal  responsibility — for  others.  I 
think  no  man  has  a  right  to  excessive  wealth,  to  put 
into  his  own  coffers  what  is  needed  for  the  support  of 
his  fellowmen  and  their  families.  Hoarding  up  money 
beyond  what  one  can  use  is  like  hoarding  up  fruit  in 
the  same  way.  It  tends  to  rot.  It  makes  the  indi- 
vidual self -centered,  inconsiderate,  mean,  immoral. 
It  makes  the  community  lose  faith  in  republican  in- 
stitutions, and  fail  to  practice  that  love  of  humanity 
which  underlies  these  institutions. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  iv. 

BEREAVED 

Then  think  not  love  is  mortal,  or  can  die. 

No  floods  can  flow  but  it  has  power  to  brave, 
Too  near  in  nature  to  the  heaven  on  high. 

To  sink  resistless  in  an  earthly  wave. 
More  strong  than  death,  bereaved  of  loved  ones  living, 

True  love  will  aim  anon  for  all  men's  good; 
For  this  its  thought,  time,  strength,  and  substance 
giving,— 

Ah,  could  it  find  an  aim  sublimer,  if  it  would? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxxv. 


32  A  POET'S  CABINET 

BEREAVEMENT  (see  AFFLICTION  and  TROUBLE) 

Whatever  the  promise  of  rest  or  of  toil, 

There  never  can  be  an  earthly  soil, 

But  flood  and  earthquake  tear; 

There  never  can  be  an  earthly  air. 

But  wind  and  lightning  rend. 

Vain  then  to  think  of  an  earthly  friend 

Whose  love  and  help  can  last ! 

For  all,  whenever  their  day  be  past, 

The  air  they  breathe,  the  soil  they  tread 

Will  close  in  a  coffin  and  leave  them  dead. 

Love  and  Life,  xvi. 

I  brought  back  not  alone  what  books  could  give, 
But  in  myself  a  sense  of  others'  wants, — 
For  in  my  heart  a  wondrous  wealth  of  love; 
Ay,  wealth  it  was;  though,  like  the  ore  in  mines. 
It  only  proved  that  that  which  lived  had  died. 
What  though  my  life,  complete  with  her  alone, 
Seem'd  always  rent?  a  weight  of  broken  quartz 
That  only  gleam'd  where  it  had  fractur'd  been? 
That  weight  was  wealth  that  sparkled  back  to  greet 
Each  glance  of  sunshine. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxv. 

BEREAVEMENT,  LOSS  OF  A  CHILD   (see  CHILd) 

How  sad  when  the  one  we  had  led  by  the  hand 
Who  had  looked  to  us  for  every  demand 
Of  body  or  soul  has  gone  to  the  grave. 
And  we  must  live,  not  die  as  we  crave. 
But  watch  him  pass  to  the  sunless  gloom 
Beyond  that  mile-stone  mark  of  the  tomb, 
And,  led  by  those  whom  never  he  knew. 
Go  journeying  on  the  darkness  through, 
As,  all  alone. 

He  makes  his  quest 
For  a  home  to  own 

In  the  land  of  the  best. 

Love  and  Life,  XLVI. 

BIAS  (see  prejudice) 
Help  on  no  ways  nor  words  that  extol 
The  vise  of  a  bias  that  binds  the  soul; 
No  rank  held  up  by  holding  down 


Caused  that  our  school's  head, 
Already  nodding  o'er  his  noonday  pipe, 
Should  catch  at  sever'd  dreams  with  one  nod  more, 
And  so  consent  to  our  dreams. 

See  page 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  33 

True  worth  as  an  underling  stript  of  his  crown; 

No  cause  with  a  He 

For  a  party-cry 
To  catch  the  low  or  to  court  the  high; 

No  life  with  a  creed 

That  ends  all  the  need 
Of  knowing  or  growing  in  thought  or  deed. — 
Weigh  well  their  worth ;  true  dawnings  of  light 
Can  abide  your  waiting  and  grow  more  bright. 
Weigh  not,  you  prove  the  trend  of  my  thought 
Your  soul  is  a  slave  to  be  sold  and  bought. 

Whatever  the  Mission  of  Life  may  he. 

BIGOTRY  {see  CHARITY  and  modern) 
....  Eyes,  they  say, 

Made  free  to  roam  round  all  the  world  of  thought 

Find  views  too  strange 

....  To  those  not  free  to  roam? — 

Who  envy  what  they  cannot  see  themselves? 
....  They  say  such  hate  what  does  not  aid  religion. 
....  Aid  whose,  and  what? — their  own? — and  are 

they  sure 
They  do  not  make  their  own  selves  lords,  forsooth. 
Because  they  wish  to  lord  it  over  others? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

BIG  THING,  TRYING  TO  LIFT  A 

No  one  ever  tried  to  lift  a  big  thing,  who  didn't  risk 
its  falling  back  on  him.  On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

BIRD,  IN  A  SNOW  STORM 

Whirred  like  the  moulting  wings  of  some  vast  swan. 
The  snow-blast  broods  above  the  landscape  drear; 
But  through  the  wild  wind  shivers,  high  and  clear. 
The  call  of  one  lone  bird  that  sings  anon. 
Sing  on,  thou  child  of  warmth  and  light,  sing  on! 
I  know  thy  loneliness,  I  know  thy  cheer. 
Thy  call  will  never  bring  one  comrade  near, 
Nor  make  the  world  about  less  chill  and  wan. 
But,  oh,  no  tempest  can  outblow,  sweet  bird, 
Those  drafts  thine  ardent  spirit  draws  to  bring 
The  breath  of  heaven  to  fill  thy  trembling  breast, 
So  thrilled  to  voice  the  world's  Creator's  word! 

The  Solitary  Singer. 


34  A  POET'S  CABINET 

BIRDS  OF  PREY 

....  Show  us,  as  I  thinks 

Birds  of  another^ s  feather — birds  of  prey. 
....     In  praying  they  do  priest's  work. 
.  .  .  .  Yes;  in  that — 

And  making  mortals  humble.    One  with  aught 
To  plume  himself  on,  will  not  go  unplucked. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 
BIRTH  (see  heredity) 
When  the  world  began, 
What  gave  it  light 
Was  the  touch  of  love's  electric  might. 
That  touch  still  brings,  in  the  heavenly  plan 
The  spark  of  the  spirit  that  makes  man  man. 
His  life  all  starts  in  a  flash  of  light, 
A  gleam  of  glory,  blessed  and  bright. 
The  while  within  him  is  lighted  a  fire 
Where  burns  forever  the  soul's  desire; 
And  all  he  owns  that  gives  him  worth 
Is  that  inward  glow  that  shines  for  earth, 
And  shows  the  love  that  gave  it  birth. 

Love  and  Life,  xxxix. 
bitters 
No  fetes  are  feasts  with  every  course  alike ; 
And  all  fare  better  who  begin  with  bitters. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 
blade 
Dull  not  the  blade  that  carves  at  your  own  feast. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 
blizzard 
With  a  scowling  sky  blue-black  from  a  blow. 
And  the  whur  of  a  giant  in  skirts  of  snow, 
The  blizzard  came  howling  ahead.      The  Blizzard, 

BLUSH 

Or  blush  anon  with  inward  kindled  fires 
To  feel  the  flatteries  breath'd  from  women's  lips. 

A  Life  in  Song,  Note  v. 
Why,  too,  had  she  flush'd? — 
What  subtle  weapon  had  been  used  to  cut 
Beneath  the  surface  of  her  mien,  and  bring 
The  heart-blood  from  its  core? 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxv. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  35 

BOARDING 
And  you  now — you  are  living  with  him  here? 
.  .  .  .     Yes,  living! — Did  you  think  that  we  were 
boarding?  Cecil  the  Seer,  ill.,  i. 

BOARDING  HOUSE  FOR  SERVANTS,  A  RICH  MAN's  HOME 

....  I  should  give  up  French  cooking  rather  than 
run  the  risk  every  week  of  having  a  French  revolution 
in  my  basement. 

....  Yes;  but  John 

....  John's  our  old  family  butler,  absolutely 
honest  and  faithful, 

....  But  the  cook  says  he  '11  leave  if  John  stays. 

....  But  John — why  John  must  stay. 

....  Now  you  see  the  trouble  you  make? 

.  .  .  .  /  make?  Oh,  no  mother,  you  make  it. — 
Well,  then,  perhaps,  both  of  us  make  it.  We  do  it  by 
trying  to  run  a  boarding-house  for  a  lot  of  half- worked 
people  whose  resources  of  thought  or  feeling  are  ex- 
hausted the  moment  hands  and  feet  cease  pumping  in 
order  to  fill  them.  A  lazy  booby  wags  his  tongue  for 
the  same  reason  that  a  lazy  dog  wags  his  tail ;  and  he 
lashes  indiscriminately  whatever  happens  to  be  near. 
No  wonder  there  are  rows  in  the  kitchen. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  ill. 

BOARDING    HOUSE    IN    A    COLLEGE    TOWN 

They  act  like  a  set  of  students  in  a  college-town 
boarding-house.  They  are  away  from  home,  and  feel 
that  they  are  not  responsible  if  they  fail  to  keep  up  the 
home-standard  of  respectability. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

BODIES  {see  frame) 
Men  m.ay  be  best  as  they  are; 

Our  bodies  may  lenses  be 
To  focus  a  light  with  a  source  too  far 

For  earth  its  rays  to  see; 
And  but  for  the  finite  forms  we  love 
We  never  might  know  of  the  light  above. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xv. 

BONDSMAN 

The  one  that  everybody's  bid  can  bind 
Is  everybody's  bondsman.     Columbus,  i.,  2. 


36  A  POET'S  CABINET 

BOOKS 

Again,  desires  that  spurr'd  his  eager  mind 

Would  dash  it  through  the  Hnes  of  some  chance  book, 
Much  thought  to  seize,  and  much  to  leave  behind. 

Alas,  how  many  truths  did  he  o'erlook! 

How  many  rich-robed  lies  for  guides  he  took! 
How  dazed  grew  hope,  that  follow'd  in  the  track 

Of  forms  that  vanished !  how  his  conscience  shook, 
Charged  by  each  innuendo's  base  attack. 
Smooth-tongued  as  knaves  are  when  they  stab  behind 
one's  back! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lviii. 

BOOKS,  HYPNOTIC  IN   EFFECT 

Some  men  who  always  keep  their  minds  on  books 
see  only  what  their  writers  have  described;  or  when 
they  think,  think  like  hypnotic  subjects  whose  ravished 
eyes  yield  sight  to  breed  suggestion. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ill. 

BOTTLES,  men's  BODIES  LIKE 

Men's  bodies  are  like  bottles;  their  heads  on  top 
like  corks  that  seal  the  contents.  If  you  can  only  fill 
the  body  up  with  what  can  make  the  whole  thing  be 
light-headed,  one  little  shake  will  leave  the  contents 
stale  as  popped  champagne — with  no  life  left  in  it 
except  what  can  be  used  for  your  own  purposes. 

Oji  Detective  Duty,  ii. 

BOUQUET 

Only  the  stalks  of  an  old  bouquet, 
Colorless,  faded,  gone  to  decay, — 
Still  they  are  dear  for  the  joys  they  bore 
While  they  were  blooming  in  days  of  yore. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  i. 

For  one  who  would  himself  be  here, 
And  for  ourselves  who  hold  you  dear. 
We  come,  fair  maid,  to  welcome  you. 
For  sun-bright  eyes  like  yours  we  grew, 
For  cheeks  like  yours,  with  ardor  meet, 
Would  flush,  aglow  their  glow  to  greet; 
And  up  to  you,  our  fragrance  rare 
Is  breathed  from  lips  that  burst  in  prayer. 
Our  goddess  dear,  our  sister  sweet, 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  37 

This  meeting  leaves  our  lives  complete. 
Now  dew  may  fail,  or  frost  may  sear, 
We  fade,  we  die;  but  have  been  here. 

What  the  Bouquet  Said. 

BOY  {see  CHILDREN  and  youth) 
But  I  would  blend  the  purity 

Of  her  whom  I  adore 
With  manly  power  for  mastery 

And  promise  yet  in  store. 

So  I  would  take  the  boy  who  roams 

Toward  life,  half  understood, 
From  thresholds  of  those  holy  homes 

That  face  alone  the  good ; — 

A  boy  who  has  not  reach'd  the  brink 

Where  vice  will  cross  his  track, 
Whose  wish  that  loathes  the  wish  to  drink 

Still  keeps  the  tempter  back; — 

A  boy  who  hardly  knows  of  ill, 

Or  ill  can  a^pprehend, 
With  cheeks  that  blush,  with  eyes  that  fill, 

And  faith  that  fears  no  end. 

And  oh,  I  know  that  those  who  love 

The  purest  part  of  joy. 
Would  choose  with  me  from  all  above 

The  heaven  that  held  my  boy. 

A  Phase  of  the  Angelic. 

BOY-FRIENDS 

The  kind  was  new ; 
Not  human,  so  angelic.     Ay,  that  soul. 
As  pure  as  loving,  and  as  fine  as  frank, 
I  half  believe  to-day,  as  I  did  then. 
Stood  strange  amid  his  comrades  of  the  play 
As  dogwood,  wedded  to  the  skies  of  spring, 
White  in  a  wilderness  of  wintry  pines. 
Ah  me,  could  all  find  all  on  earth  so  dear, 
Christ's  work  were  common.    I  had  died  for  him. 
In  fact,  to  shield  the  rogue,  I  just  escap'd 
That  very  fate  a  score  of  times  or  more, 
Bluft,  bruis'd,  and  battling  for  him  on  the  green. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  in. 


38  A  POET'S  CABINET 

You  know  boy-friends  are  shy:  is  it  a  trait, 

Their  shielding  of  their  hearts,  that  fits  them  thus 

For  Hfe-tilts  of  their  manhood? — How  we  two 

Would  rasp  each  other  when  the  world  look'd  on! 

In  truth,  each  seem'd  to  wear  his  nature's  coat 

The  soft  side  inward,  comforting  himself, 

And  turn  the  rough  side  only  toward  the  world. 

If  strangers  chafed  against  it,  yet  oneself 

And  friend  were  saved  this.  Idem. 

BOY-LOVERS  OF  ONE   ANOTHER    (see  MATE) 

....  Since  we  two  were  boys, 

The  only  love  that  I  have  felt  returned, 

Has  been  my  love  for  you. 

....  And  yet  they  say 

The  love  of  woman 

....  Could  that  satisfy 

And  thrill  with  aught  so  true,  unselfish,  pure? — 
I  worship  boyhood,  thinking  what  we  were. 

Dante,  ii.,  2. 
In  truth,  I  never  see  to-day  a  face 
Where  flash  the  kindling  feelings  of  a  boy. 
But  back  of  it,  I  seem  to  feel  the  warmth 
Of  Elbert's  heart.    No  school-boy  past  me  bounds 
But  his  dear  presence  comes  to  leap  the  years, 
And  rush  on  recollection,  with  a  force 
That  brings  from  depths  of  joy,  still'd  long  ago, 
A  spray  as  fresh  as  dash'd  from  them  when  first 
They  stream'd  in  cataracts.    With  love  like  his 
To  flood  its  brim,  my  soul  appear'd  so  full 
That,  overflowing  at  each  human  touch. 
Its  pleasures  could  not  stagnate. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  iv. 

I  would  that  the  boy  whom  thus  I  knew 

Had  been  of  her  kith  and  kin, 
And  had  shared  her  earthly  nature  too 

With  that  sweet  soul  within; 

For  if  so,  I  now  could  be  sure  as  then 

That  all  of  my  hopes  were  true; 
And  my  faith  could  join  with  another's  again, 

And  joy  in  the  strength  of  two. 

A  Life  in  Sons:  Lovinz^  xix. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  39 

BOY,  WHEN  IN  LOVE 

Why,  a  boy, 
A  boy  in  love,  could  not  more  gracefully 
Let  tumble  forth  from  his  embarrassed  lips 
The  whole  sweet  burden  of  his  blushing  cheeks. 
Than  he  did,  pelting,  helter-skelter,  out 
Those  metaphors  at  us,  to  vent  his  joy 
In  welcoming  our  own!  Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 

BOYS,    NOT   SOUGHT   FOR 

....  Some  man  might  want  to  speak  to  me,  and 
what  should  I  do  then? 

....  Why,  run.  Then  they  would  know  you  were 
a  boy. 

....  He  might  run  after. 

....  I  should  smile! — There's  none  want  boys  as 
bad  as  that.  They  don't  run  after  them.  We  boys 
are  thick  as  paving  stones,  and  used  like  them  to 
tramp  on.  There 's  no  rush  for  us,  except  to  rush  us  off. 
Ah,  Miss,  you'll  have  a  lark  in  these.  The  lark  keeps 
flying  and  is  safe.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  11. 

BOYS    THAT  SMOKE   AND  DRINK 

A  boy  that  smokes  at  your  age  and  drinks  whiskey 
comes  carrying  all  about  him  like  a  weed,  an  air  and 
odor  no  one  can  mistake.  The  shops  avoid  him,  and 
the  sports  decoy  him.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

BRAHMINISM 

But  on  a  high,  broad  cliff  his  quick  gait  ceast; 

And  thence,  the  while  he  pointed  toward  the  east, 

My  eyes  could  see — upon  a  greener  field. 

Swept  of  the  cumbering  trees,  and  half  conceal'd 

By  clouds  of  smoke  as  white  as  was  its  own 

Pure  marble  hue — an  altar;  nor  alone. 

Soon,  standing  near  it,  where  the  air  had  clear'd 

A  white-robed  multitude  of  priests  appear'd, 

And  multitudes  about  them  ranged  in  line. 

And  multitudes  of  victims,  fowl  and  kine. 

And,  ever  and  anon,  a  listening  ear 

Some  vagrant  fragments  of  men's  praise  could  hear, 

Soft  interrupted  strains  that  stroked  the  air 

As  though  vibrations  from  the  wings  of  prayer. 

Then,  as  I  sought  to  learn  the  cause  of  all, 


40  A  POET'S  CABINET 

The  altar-smoke  that,  ere  this,  Hke  a  pall 
Had  rested  o'er  it,  rose  afar  and  spread, 
Like  Paribanou's  tent,  o'er  every  head, 
Unfolding  far  past  all  foretoken'd  size. 
Yet  still  the  fumes  unfolded,  till  the  skies 
Were  black  as  when  that  drapery  thick  hung  o'er 
The  pyre  of  dead  Pompeii,  lit  of  yore 
By  her  fierce  executioner,  the  grim 
Vesuvius.     Like  that  did  this  mass  dim 
All  things  except  its  own  form  hovering 
Above  the  earth,  and  swiftly  covering 
The  moon  and  struggling  stars:  but  lo,  ere  long 
'T  was  limb'd  anew,  the  while  a  wind-blast  strong 
Rent  from  its  ragged  outlines  threatening  forms, 
Whirl'd  like  tornadoes,  torn  from  clouds  in  storms. 
These  then,  that  seem'd  o'er  half  the  earth  to  lower, 
Were  seen  to  be  the  arms  of  some  vast  power 
That  floated  on  the  air :  and  soon  behold 
Their  fingers  far  seem'd  stretching  off  to  mould 
The  yielding  texture  of  the  pliant  space. 
"  Now  watch, "  my  guide  said ;  "while  on  high  they  place 
The  stars  call'd  surges,  and  the  earth,  mirtlok, 
And  patals  of  the  lower  realm,  where  flock 
The  evil  bands  of  Nardman.     This  is  he, — 
Great  Brahma,  who  above  the  Indian  sea 
Once  on  the  lotus  lay,  when  truth  began 
To  gild  the  dreams  of  youth,  and  guide  the  man. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xviii. 

BRAWN 

Say  what  you  may  of  thought, 

Man's  brawn  was  given  him  as  well  as  brain. 

And  there  are  things  to  tramp  for,  things  to  clutch, 

And  days  for  doing.  They  are  brighter,  too. 

At  times,  than  nights  for  dreaming.     Dante,  iii.,  2. 

BREED 

The  strength  that  flows  from  a  soulless  mould 

May  bring  me  a  breed,  to  my  cost, 
Thick-skinn'd,  thick-limb'd,  with  brawn  that  is  bold 

In  a  world  where  love  is  lost. 

All  hell  may  hail  their  brawlings  loud, 
Brute-headed,  bull-necked,  beast-eyed, — 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  41 

A  herd  to  make  the  devil  proud 
Of  the  way  God's  wish  is  defied. 

Accurs'd  of  God,  and  a  curse  to  man, 
As  have  ever  been  all  of  their  kin. 

Whose  lives  have  only  fulfill'd  a  plan 
To  thwart  the  spirit  within. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxi. 

BRILLIANCY  IN  ART 

We  sometimes  hear  it  intimated  that  a  foremost 
characteristic  of  the  artistic  mind  is  brilliancy.  Let  us 
accept  this  word.  Brilliants  concentrate  and  disperse 
the  light.  The  artist  gathers  in  the  truth  which  is 
manifested  through  the  appearances  of  nature,  truth 
which  is  ordinary  to  an  ordinary  mind,  and,  forcing 
it  through  his  own  limiting  but  also  illuminating 
individuality,  makes  it  flash  forth  with  illustrating 
wisdom  on  all  the  world  about  him. 

The  Representative  Significance  of  Form,  XIV. 

BRILLIANCY  WITHOUT  STABILITY 

I  have  known  of  men 
Whose  thought  would  flash  like  lightning,  lighting  up 
Half  heaven  besides  the  whole  of  earth;  and  yet 
A  whirlwind,  did  you  trust  to  its  caress, 
Would  never  lead  you  in  a  madder  dance. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 

BRILLIANT   CHANCE 

It  were  a  brilliant  chance ! 

Yes,  far  too  brilliant 
For  moths  to  meet  with,  and  escape  a  scorching. 
No  wick-light  dazzles  him.    He  knows  the  sun. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  I. 

BRINGING  UP,  OF  BOYS 

....  No  boys  like  him  are  wholly  bad. 

....  But  only  not  brought  up  well,  eh? 

....  Are  not  brought  up  at  all,  Truth  is  are  kept 
down  badly.  You  trample  on  a  growing  vine,  it  grows 
up  crooked.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

BROAD 

His  broad  desires  in  broadest  fields  would  roam, 
Where'er  was  worth  his  nature  to  attract. 


42  A  POET'S  CABINET 

While  ignorance  with  him  smiled  and  seem'd  at  home, 

And  wisdom  would  not  know  a  trait  he  lack'd. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  iii. 
Besides,  broad  views  alone  give  men  offense. 

What  tho'  on  life's  wide  sea  loom  stars  and  shoals, 
Both  theories  for  thought  and  facts  for  sense? 

Alas  for  those  whose  too  well-balanced  souls 
Let  not  the  aspect  of  but  one  view  draw  them! 

Think  you  that  men  will  yield  to  such  their  trust? 
Most  men  are  curs,  and  let  small  brute-will  awe  them 

Far  more  than  great-soul'd  thought,  however  wise  or 
just.  Idem,  vii. 

BROOK 

Anon  a  brook  before  my  vision  spread. 

It  seem'd  a  path  that  fairy  feet  could  tread, — 

A  path  of  silver,  o'er  a  jewell'd  ground. 

Which  far  away  toward  heaven-like  mountains  wound 

White  mists  were  clinging  to  the  brook's  bright  side. 

Like  spirit-bands  I  thought  them,  whom  its  tide 

Lull'd  softly,  couch'd  amid  the  dark-leaved  trees, 

Awaiting  bugles  of  the  morning  breeze. 

And  all  the  rush  of  daybreak  sweeping  by, 

To  bear  them  off  in  glory  to  the  sky. 

Idem,  Seeking,  III. 

BROTHER 

A  man  alone? — You  yet  a  brother  are 
To  many  a  soul  that  sails  the  sea  of  life. 
Where  oft  the  horizon  trembles  with  the  change 
Of  wind  and  wave;  and  hope,  too  hale,  oft  mourns 
Fair  promises,  like  skies  that  fade  in  fog. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  Liii. 

BRUTES  AND   THINKERS 

The  surest  proof  we  men  are  not  all  fools. 
Is  in  the  way  we  bruit  them  when  we  find  them. 
....  Ay,  and  the  surest  we  are  not  all  brutes. 
Is  in  the  way  our  thinkers  make  us  mind  them. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 

BRUTES,   HUMAN 

A  bear,  you  know,  has  hair  upon  his  cheek. 
And  growls,  and,  now  and  then,  stands  up  and  hugs. 
I  like  men  who  can  prove  themselves  no  brutes. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  43 

BRUTES  VS.    REASONING   BEINGS 

A  man  should  use  his  reason.    Are  we  brutes? 
....  No ; — worse  than  brutes  when  he  comes. 

Brutes,  at  times, 
To  save  their  lives,  will  turn  upon  a  man. 
But  we — five  score  to  one,  but  all  afraid 
To  call  our  souls  our  own.    Let  him  appear, 
We  fly  like  cry-girls  from  a  buzzing  bug 
One  touch  could  crush  in  no  time. 

Idem,  III.,  2. 

BUBBLES 

Outward  gains  bring  only  a  show 

Gleaming  in  bubbles  a  breath  can  blow. 

All  the  glitter  that  ever  they  make, 

Flashing  or  dashing  away  as  they  break, 

All  is  as  nothing,  unless  men  find. 

Within  and  without  them  and  broader  in  kind, 

The  light  enlightening  soul  and  mind. 

Love  alone  is  the  sun-bright  air. 

Filling  the  bubbles,  and  making  them  fair. 

And  shining  on,  when  they  all  have  burst. 

As  brightly  as  when  it  lighted  them  first. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving^  v. 

BURIED 

Dying  as  a  stranger  dies, 
And  buried  like  a  man  to  be  forgot. 

Idem,  Finale. 

BUSINESS 

Business 
Is  like  a  cyclone,  fills  our  paths  with  dust 
And  bustle;  yet  men  say  it  comes  to  clear  them 

And  bring  us  rest  and  comfort.    Humph ! 

Dante,  11.,   i. 

BUSINESS  SUCCESS 

The  tides  when  highest  fall  the  soonest.  Success  in 
business  depends  on  buying  when  others  want  to  sell 
— so  buying  cheap ;  and  selling  when  the  others  want 
to  buy.  The  Two  Paths,  11. 

CALL,  THE  spirit's  {see  SOUL  and  spirit) 
For  him  who  hears  anon  by  day  or  night  the  spirit's  call. 
Naught  is  fitting  save  to  be  and  do  and  speak  the 
truth  to  all. 


44  '  A  POETS  CABINET 

Let  the  world  refuse  to  heed  it, — he  at  least  is  not  to 

blame; 
For  the  truth  still  rules  his  action,  and  the  heavens 

direct  his  aim. 
Let  the  world  with  force  oppose  him, — he  may  lead 

a  worthy  life; 
And  his  words  may  prove  prophetic,  tho'  his  works 

insure  him  strife. 
Let  him  make  mistakes  in  methods, — who  can  learn 

these  till  he  tries? 
And  the  world  that  brings  him  failure,  makes  him 

fail  to  make  him  wise. 
He  alone  can  hope  to  prosper,  who  has  learned  to  use 

the  light, 
Ray  by  ray,  that  shows  the  spirit,  step  by  step,  the 

way  of  right ; — 
Only  he,  who,  when  his  dreaming  lures  him  toward 

ideals  rare. 
Wakes  to  gird  and  venture  on,  to  be,  to  do,  at  least 
to  dare.  A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xliii. 

And  so,  when  ceaseless  calls  appeal, 
One  dare  not  from  them  turn  away. 
Nay,  nay,  he  must  some  work  essay, 
However  slight,  in  every  fray. 
Who  blows  a  bugle,  beats  a  drum. 
Or  jingles  rhymes,  may  rouse  in  some 
That  spirit  which,  in  truth's  grand  war, 
Gains  all  this  life  is  given  for! 

Idem,  Doubting,  xxxvi, 
Let  then  the  Spirit's  voice  be  heard, 
Tho'  warbling  only  like  a  bird 
Vague  sounds  that  hardly  hint  a  word. 
The  men  who  hear  that  call  on  high, 
I  will  believe,  if  toward  the  sky 
They  turn,  and  think  that  love  is  nigh, 
Are  bless'd  tho'  they  but  heave  a  sigh. 

Idem,  XLIV. 

CAP  AND  BELLS,  ATTRACTING  ATTENTION 

You  think  a  fool  in  cap  and  bells  is  not  so  big  a  fool 
as  he  that  never  wears  the  cap  and  bells,  yet  wants  to 
get  the  world's  attention.    Go  on,  boy,  I  will  listen. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  ii. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  45 

CAPTIVES,    LED 

So  now  they  held  three  captives; 

And  these,  by  daggers  led, 
They  slipt  about  the  camp  and  out, 

As  needles  flit  with  thread. 

How  Bartoii  Took  The  General. 

CAPTURE  OF  A  CRUISER 

They  came  to  Fenner's  dock; 

And  found,  awaiting  there. 
Eight  yawls,  that  Brown  had  lent  the  town, 

In  Captain  Whipple's  care. 

The  crews  that  mann'd  the  yawls 

Had  muffled  every  oar; 
And  they,  and  men  who  join'd  them  then, 

All  told,  were  sixty-four. 

Their  arms  were  pick'd  with  care 

From  all  their  friends  could  loan ; 
And  all  the  yawls,  for  cannon  balls, 

Were  stock' d  with  paving-stone. 

They  battled  wind  and  tide. 

Three  hours  amid  the  gloom. 
The  midnight  pass'd.    They  saw,  at  last, 

The  cruiser's  bulwarks  loom. 

"Who  comes?"  her  watch  call'd  out. 

"Who  comes!"  her  captain  cried. 
Then  swift  alarm'd,  in  tones  that  arm*d. 

Her  crew  that  toward  him  hied. 

"Move  off!"  her  captain  roar'd. 

His  pistol  aiming  well; 
Then  fired — alack!  fire  answer 'd  back; 

He  started,  stagger'd,  fell. 

And  then,  as  dark  and  fierce 
As  tidal  waves,  where  fleets 
Are    whelm'd    and   whirl'd  and  downward 
hurl'd 
Till  death  their  deed  completes, 

Our  men,  at  Whipple's  cry, 
"Up,  up!"  clear'd  every  check; 
And  dash'd  and  leapt  and  slash'd  and  swept 
Across  the  cruiser's  deck. 


46  A  POET'S  CABINET 

But  hold ! — her  men  were  gone. 

Ours  held  the  deck  alone; 
Their  work  had  done,  nor  fired  a  gun; 

The  cruiser's  crew  had  flown. 

"Surrender  here!"  rang  out; 

And  out  the  cabin  glanced 
At  first  a  few,  then  all  the  crew; 

Then  one  and  all  advanced. 

The  Last  Cruise  of  the  Gaspee. 

CARE 

What  joy  to  feel  that  now  it  all  is  over! 
....  All  never  will  be  over  in  this  world. 
The  great  care  passes,  but  trails  lesser  cares 
That  aggregate  no  less  of  worry. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 

CARE-TAKING,  AND  A  SENSE  OF  OWNERSHIP 

Humph,  what  a  fool  a  fellow  is  for  being  envious  of  the 
rich  I — They  want  to  seize  this  house  and  smash  it.  One 
only  owns  the  thing  he  keeps.  A  man  might  think  he 
owned  the  world,  if  everything  he  saw  he  tried  to  keep  as 
safe  as  when  he  found  it.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  ii. 
CARICATURE  (see  donkey) 

A  caricature,  when  popular,  is  a  conclusive  proof 
that  what  is  caricatured  is  popularly  thought  to  be 
ridiculous.  When  this  is  something  to  which  all  have 
been  accustomed  all  their  lives,  it  indicates  the  skepti- 
cism that  may  lead  to  reformation. 

The  Laws  of  English  Orthography. 

CATCHING 

You  want  to  free  this  fox,  eh,  for  the  fun  of  catching 
him  again?  You  want  to  play  your  game  of  hell? 
A  sinner  saved,  you  think,  may  fall  once  more? 

The  Two  Paths,  i. 

CATHEDRAL  VS.  CHARACTER  AS  SOURCES  OF  INFLUENCE 

You  but  wander' d  as  the  lamb ; 

My  spotless,  worldling-mediator,  you! — 

It  wander'd? — yes;  it  cross'd  a  threshold  chill; 

A  proud  cathedral  enter'd ;  there  found  one 

Too  pleased  with  what  he  had,  to  gaze  outside. 

To  him  those  arches  low  seem'd  high  as  heaven; 

And  all  the  sweet  and  sunny  air  without, 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  47 

When  strain'd  through  stain'd  and  smoke-wreathed 

window-panes, 
Gleam'd  lurid  as  were  hell.    This  man  spied  you: 
He  saw  you  shun  him — leave  him.    He  pursued — 
Out,  past  the  doorway — and  he  found  God's  world 
So  much  more  broad  than  walls  named  after  Him!" 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxxii. 

CAUSE,  THE 

"Head.    You  follow.    Should  I  fall, 

Move  on :  my  corpse  may  give 
At  least  a  vantage  ground !    Move  up : 

The  cause,  it  is,  must  live!"     Ethan  Allen. 

CAUTION 

A  man  who  lives  for  others,  not  for  self. 
Has  little  fear  for  self;  yet  care  for  them 
May  give  him  caution.         Columbus,  ill.,  i. 

Our  nearest  friends, 
In  judging  us,  our  works,  not  wishes,  take, — 
Works  oft  as  far  from  what  the  soul  intends 
As  dreamland  from  the  life  to  which  we  wake. 
Full  oft  our  traits  that  temper  it  may  make 
Impure  the  coloring  of  our  purest  aim. 

So  need  we  caution,  and  for  truth's  own  sake; 
Lest  those  who  watch  love's  fire  within  us  flame 
Shall  doubt  if  it  from  love  or  something  baser  came. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lxix, 

CAUTIOUS 

If  when  one  come  to  pluck  a  rose,  he  finds 
It  grows  on  thorns,  he  may  become  more  cautious. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

CAVALRY    CHARGE,    A    HERO    IN    A 

You  should  have  seen  him  when  the  battle  came. 
He  led  the  last  charge,  speeding  on  a  steed 
Wellnigh  as  white  as  was  the  air  it  slid  through, 
His  form  bent  down  as  if  to  hurl  his  head 
Against  their  lines,  and  by  sheer  force  of  brain, 
Burst  through  them.    Faster  than  the  following  wind 
He  flew,  as  if  the  blast  that  urged  him  on 
Were  some  last  trump  of  Gabriel's,  and  the  soul 
Could  fear  no  ills,  for  it  had  passed  beyond  them. 

Idem, 


48  A  POETS  CABINET 

CEMETERY,     A 

The  live-oak's  bending  boughs,  gray-draped  in  moss, 

Like  mourning  sentinels,  guard  the  winding  ways ; 

But  under  them  each  grave  the  eye  surveys 

Is  wreathed  with  flowers  that  breezes  gently  toss. 

Ah,  if  the  bowed  oaks  fitly  frame  our  loss. 

Beneath  them  crowd,  too,  symbols  of  the  bays 

To  crown  our  loved  ones  in  those  far,  fair  days 

That  nights  end  not  and  storms  can  never  cross. 

Though  bodies  fail,  souls  need  not  meet  defeat. 

Nay,  let  our  spirits  rise  above  like  these 

Blithe  birds  that,  winged  from  out  sweet  flowery  beds, 

Soar  up  and  sing  through  clouds  of  moss-hung  trees, 

Sing  as  of  dreams  of  beauty,  sure  to  greet 

The  slumber  on  which  God  such  beauty  spreads, 

Bonaventure  Cemetery,  Savannah. 

There  are  few  kindred  places  on  the  earth 

Where  rest  as  many  great  men  as  lie  here; 

Or,  in  proportion,  more  men  to  revere 

Of  those  whose  learning  was  outweighed  by  worth. 

Not  strange  then  that,  at  many  a  household-hearth 

And  student  desk,  our  generation  fear 

To  change  or  question  aught  these  men  held  dear ; 

As  if,  forsooth,  a  saint  could  need  new  birth! 

Princeton  Cemetery. 

CHANGE  FOR  ITS  OWN  SAKE 

And  times  that  do  not  like  a  cackling  hen. 
And  seek  to  fill  their  coops  with  fowl  that  crow, 
Will  not  get  many  eggs.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

CHANGE  IN  ASPECTS  OF  SPIRITUAL  TRUTH  (566  ADVANCE, 

PROGRESS,  and  wisdom) 
So,  when  life's  last  grand  sunrise  gilds  our  night. 
And  heaven's  wide  opening  gates  flash  forth  their  light. 
Who  knows  what  forms  on  earth  may  be  the  first 
To  catch  the  glories  that  shall  o'er  us  burst? 
With  all  our  boasts,  life  is  not  perfect  yet; 
Nor  are  all  forms  within  which  truth  is  met 
Transparent  to  reveal  its  hidden  worth ; 
Nor  large  enough  to  hold  it,  when  from  earth 
It  springs  toward  heaven.     The  safeguards  fram'd 
around 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  49 

The  sprout  when  first  it  starts  to  leave  the  ground, 

Now  that  it  presses  upward  and  about 

And  from  its  narrow  frame  is  bursting  out, — 

Can  these  that  held  the  twig  in,  hold  the  tree? 

Or  think  you  life  a  force  that  can  endure, 

And  never  change,  nor  ever  grow  mature? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  LI. 

CHARACTER,   DETERMINED   BY   DOING,    NOT  FEELING 

Some  men  there  are  have  murder  in  their  hearts 

Through  all  their  lives ;  and  if  they  murder  not 

....  They  may  be  rightly  numbered  with  the  saints. 
Not  what  oiur  lower  nature  makes  us  feel. 
But  what  our  higher  nature  lets  us  do. 
Determines  what  we  are.  Dante,  11.,  2. 

CHARITY   FOR   OTHERS*   OPINIONS    {see  MODERN) 

Ay,  when  men  desire  the  whole  truth,  each  one's 
nature  like  a  chart 

Shall  unfold  to  show  what  only  all  together  can  impart. 

Till  that  time,  though  those  about  us  vie  to  be  the 
foes  of  truth. 

Let  it  be  its  own  defender;  they  will  learn  in  time, 
forsooth. 

How  much  more  may  spring  to  light,  where  only  won- 
dering fancies  teem. 

Than  where  listlessness  in  stupor  slumbers  on  with- 
out a  dream ; 

How  much  more  may  be  discerned,  where  love  too 
lightly  waives  distrust, 

Than  where  mad  intolerance  gags  a  pleading  doubt 
with  naught  discuss'd. 

They  will  learn  that  wise  men  find  that  minds  when 
trusted  most,  confess 

Where  are  hid  the  springs  of  thought  which  he  who 
moves  them  needs  to  press, 

Learn  that  those  who  war  with  words  must  heed,  ere 
crown'd  with  victory, 

Both  the  right  array'd  against  them,  and  the  wrong; 
for  charity. 

First  in  logic  as  in  worship,  leads  the  mind's  trium- 
phant train. 

*T  is  the  Christ,  not  Aristotle,  holds  the  scepter  of  the 
brain.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xix. 

4 


50  A  POET'S  CABINET 

CHARM,  UNCONSCIOUSNESS  OF 

Unconscious  of  their  charm,  the  wind-swayed  trees 

Their  welcomes  wave ;  and  hills  with  flower-lined  ways 

Rise  dawn-like,  and,  bedimmed  with  morning  haze 

Like  incense  visible,  make  sweet  the  breeze. 

And,  all  unconscious  of  their  charm  as  these, 

The  fair,  sweet  children  pass  me  in  their  plays, 

Nor  dream  that  seeing  them  one  joy  conveys 

To  me  whom  they  feel  no  desire  to  please. 

Ah,  thus  unconscious,  must  each  human  will 

Inspire  enchantment  in  a  fellow-soul? 

Vain  then  to  hope  that  our  mere  toil  or  skill 

Can  gain  our  life  or  art  its  lordliest  role. 

The  spirit's  touch  that  stirs  the  spirit's  thrill 

Starts  in  a  source  too  deep  for  man's  control. 

Unconscious  Charm. 

CHARMER 

A  wretch  has  come,  as  vile  as  he  is  ugly; 

And  if  I  were  the  charmer  of  a  snake, 

I  could  not  shrink  from  touch  more  horrible. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

CHEST 

How  broad  his  chest  is! — Look! — and  how  it  heaves! 
Hard  work,  I  think,  but  thrilling  work  as  well, 
To  keep  inside  of  it  a  spirit  grand 
As  his!  Dante,  i.,  2. 

CHILD  (see  BOY  and  youth) 

While  a  man  can  doubt 
The  truth  within  him,  nor  show  it  without, 
The  child  holds  fast,  unfetter'd  by  lies, 
A  faith  that  he  never  has  dared  to  despise, 
Expression  that  knows  no  other  control 
Than  that  of  the  Maker  who  moves  the  soul. 
A  beauty  of  wisdom  that  works  to  obey 
A  holy,  because  a  natural  way; 
And  that  may  he  have  that  a  man  may  not. 

Of  Such  Is  the  Kingdom. 
The  truth  is  trite  that  earthly  trust  can  wend 

Two  ways  alone  in  which  't  is  ne'er  beguil'd: 
When,  journeying  with  it,  moves  a  like  train'd  friend 
Or,  this  impossible,  an  untrain'd  child. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxi. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  51 

CHILD,  A  DECEASED  {see  BEREAVEMENT) 

Oh,  surely  love  must  care 
For  child-life  everywhere! 
Kind  hands,  they  must  be  there, 

So  soft,  so  fond! 
They  must  keep  my  child  for  me, 
Forever  a  child  to  be, 
Where  forever  a  home  I  see 

In  the  life  beyond. 

In  the  Life  Beyond. 

CHILDREN 

More  sweet  than  bursting  buds  and  sprouting  grain 
That  bring  new  life  to  view  when  spring  draws 
near; 
More  bright  than  summ.er  suns  that  gild  the  plain, 

Ere  autumn  crowns  with  gold  the  old  grown  year; 
More  sweet,  more  bright  to  me  appear  the  graces 

That  fill  the  spring  of  childhood's  opening  worth; 
More  sweet,  more  bright  the  smiles  of  kindly  faces 
That  in  the  home  make  ripe  the  fruits  of  heaven  on 
earth.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xvi. 

Our  children  that  make  our  houses  anon 
Weird  mirrors  in  which,  with  scarcely  a  blur. 
Our  own  lost  lives  we  see  as  we  were. 

The  Last  Home  Gathering. 

....  Have  you  children  too? 

....  Oh  no. 

....  Congratulations !  Few  things  make  a  slower 
coach  than  crowds  of  passengers. 

....  No,  really  no! 

....  Have  known  a  lot  of  homes  that  were  so 
loaded  down.  Some  children  climb  their  parent's 
knees  as  parasites  climb  trees — you  never  see  them  for 
the  parasites.  On  Detective  Duty,  iii. 

CHILDREN,  REPRESENTATIVE 

The  little  children  of  a  house,  like  little  drops  of 
dew,  not  only  flash  the  light  about  them,  but  they 
image,  too,  the  source  from  which  it  comes.  So  one 
can  read  a  parent's  or  a  teacher's  traits  through  what 
the  children  show  by  thus  reflecting  them. 

Idem,  I. 


52  A  POETS  CABINET 

One  hates  to  have  her  children  tagging  round.  You 
know  some  people  always  judge  us  by  them,  as  if  they 
advertised  us,  like  the  tags  that  we  forget  to  cut  from 
our  new  capes.  Idem,  iii. 

CHILDREN,  SCRATCH  OR  SPONGE 

All  children,  too — too  sharp,  or  else  too  soft.  They 
either  scratch  you,  or  they  sponge  upon  you. 

....  They  give  a  scrubbing,  though,  that  keeps 
us  clean.  The  Two  Paths,  III. 

children's  and  parent's  thoughts 
Our  children,  when  we  feed  and  dress  them  well, 
may  trot  along  contented  where  our  bodies  are  leading 
them,  but  never  where  our  thoughts.  These  do  not 
walk  but  fly;  and,  where  they  wing,  they  leave  no 
tracks  behind  them.  Even  those  who  try  to  follow 
can  not  often  do  it.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

children's  views  of  life 
Lo,  feebly  rises 

A  voice  that  wails, 
As  life  surprises 
And  lifts  the  veils 
From  the  eyes  of  a  babe  that  little  prizes 
An  unsought  birth 
In  a  lone  chill  earth 
Where  it  weeps  and  wonders  what  life  is  worth! 
The  eyes  draw  back  from  the  points  of  the  light 
That  glance  from  a  world  that  is  all  in  a  glitter. 
The  cheeks  to  mysteries  huge  look  fright. 

The  swaddling  chafes  and  the  cups  are  bitter. 
The  small  hands  clutch  for  motes  of  the  air, 

For  plaits  of  the  dress,  for  folds  of  the  bed; 
But  the  marvels  move  and  mingle  and  tear, 

Redoubled  by  every  shred. 
Soon,  limbs  that  balance  the  tottering  brain 
Fall  down  in  the  pathway  damp  with  the  rain; 
Or  fly  with  shrieks  from  the  boisterous  joys, — 
The  barking  and  bounding  of  dogs  and  boys, 
And  wheels  incessantly  grinding  out  noise. 
And  if,  indeed,  the  flowers  be  sweet. 
The  garden  is  close  to  the  long,  wide  street, 
And  all  the  big  houses,  and  who  can  they  be 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  55 

The  smileless  people  so  stern  to  see? 

The  lone  little  being,  bewildered  by  needs 

And  thoughts  it  can  speak  not,  or  nobody  heeds, 

Ah,  where  can  it  find  any  respite  or  rest, 

Till  cradled,  anon,  on  its  mother's  breast, 

Its  faith  a  feeling  by  none  withstood; 

Its  hope  that  of  saints  in  God  and  in  good. 

Love  and  Life,  iv.,  v. 

CHOICE,  FOR  LIFE  {see  CONVERSION,  PRIEST,  REGENERA- 
TION) 

There  comes  a  time  that  none  can  escape. 
When  each  for  himself  a  choice  must  make. 
Must  turn  to  a  path  that  is  right  or  is  wrong, 
And  the  path  that  he  takes  is  a  path  life-long. 
What  though  some  weak,  mild  memory  know 
Not  the  hour  nor  the  day  that  tested  it  so? 
What  though  some  shrink  from  the  woes  before 
With  a  shock  that  is  never  forgotten  more? — 
All  noted  their  paths,  and  thought  of  the  change 
Till  nothing  that  came  seem'd  wholly  strange. 

Love  and  Life,  xvii. 

CHOOSE,  LEARNING  TO,  AT  MATURITY 

Between  youth's  immature  credulity, 
That  dares  to  think  but  what  some  guardian  thinks, 
And  manhood's  faith  mature  that  thinks  for  itself, 
A  realm  there  is  where  will  must  learn  to  act 
Through  doubt  and  danger;  where  the  character. 
First  wean'd  from  oversight,  must  learn  to  choose. 
Then,  like  a  tottering  child  it  yearns  to  cling 
To  one  whose  greater  power  can  for  it  act. 
Its  mood  determines  that  to  which  it  clings. 
Some  girls  are  giddy : — they  embrace  a  lover 
And  some  are  gloomy: — they  beset  a  priest. 

Haydn,  XL. 

CHRIST,    THE 

....  But  what  then  of  the  Christ? 

....  Did  He  not  say 

He  lived  in  spirit  ere  He  lived  on  earth? — 
....  He  said  He  came  for  others. 
....  Do  you  think 

A  spirit  such  as  His  would  need  to  come 


54  A  POET'S  CABINET 

For  His  own  good? 

....  And  yet  that  sacrifice? — 

....  He  sacrificed  the  spirit-life  for  life 
On  earth,  and  life  on  earth  for  spirit-life. 

....  And  but  fulfilled  a  common  role? 

....  Not  common, 

Did  He  fulfill  our  spirit's  best  ideal; 
For  spirits  live  in  thought.     How  can  they  know 
Of  any  God  beyond  their  thought  of  him? 

....  But  if  they  know  the  Son? 

....  They  know,  at  best, 

A  "Son  of  Man,"  as  well,  too,  as  "of  God," — 
In  spirit  one  with  Him,  but  not  in  frame. 

....  And  yet  a  "Saviour" — 

....  What  inspires,  but  spirit? — 

Or  saves,  but  inspiration?     He — enough — 
All  must  move  upward  would  they  find  the  Christ. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

CHRIST   AND  HIS   FOLLOWERS 

Ask  me  not  to  limit  thus  the  Christ. 
How  dare  I? — if  our  churches  teach  the  truth, 
If  He  incarnated  the  sum  of  life 
And  spirit  of  all  good, — His  holiness 
His  wholeness,  and  His  perfectness,  the  proof 
Of  what  He  was?     Nor  dare  I  limit  those 
Who  follow  Him. — Why  may  they  not  live  His, 
Not  aiming  here  nor  there,  but  everywhere 
To  make  the  most  of  all  God  meant  them  for. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xlvii. 

CHRISTLIKE 

"Whatever  your  churches  or  priests  may  claim. 

When  making  their  worldly  rolls. 
Those  made  by  God  for  heaven  will  name 

The  men  that  have  Christlike  souls." 

The  Religion  of  Rescue. 

CHURCH  (see  form  and  spirit  and  worship) 
A  church  the  home  of  all  that  hope  has  taught, 
Or  faith  has  felt,  or  love  and  grace  have  wrought, 
On  earthly  floods  the  ark  that  saves  the  soul. 
How  blest  its  halls,  and  its  divine  control, 
Where  youths'  unfolding  natures  learn  to  pray, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  55 

And  move  through  life  in  heaven's  appointed  way! 
How  blest  its  reverent  rites, — the  quiet  throng, 
The  pealing  organ  and  the  mutual  song! 
And,  after  praises,  prayers,  and  wise  advice. 
The  still  walk  home,  and  earthly  paradise! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  XLiii. 

Believe  me,  whatsoe'er  has  pass'd  away, 
Of  temple-service  or  of  priestly  sway, 
'T  is  well  the  church,  our  synagogue,  remains 
Wherein  each  soul  from  other  souls  obtains 
Interpretations,  varied  with  each  mood. 
Of  truth  that  else  might  not  be  understood. 
No  single  man  could  know,  so  Israel  thought. 
The  whole  mind  of  the  Spirit.    Hence  each  sought 
To  supplement  his  truth  by  charity 
Which  heeds  what  all  report.    How  righteously 
Could  we  in  all  that  all  men  know  rejoice! 
They  serve  the  church  who  serve  the  Spirit's  voice. 

Idem,  XLV. 
We  are  few,  but  what  are  numbers? — 

This  church  may  proof  supply 
That  right  may  move  to  triumph 

With  only  one — to  die! 

The  Crown's  Fight  against  the  Town's  Right. 

Or  church ! — Must  it  then  crucify  the  soul 
To  save  appearances?  the  body?  form? 
The  Christ  gave  up  all  these  to  save  the  soul. 
'T  is  treason  when  His  churches  join  the  world, 
And  courting  smiles  from  bigotry  appeased. 
And  grinning  hell  that  holds  the  whole  its  own, 
Preach  up  the  crucifixion  of  the  soul 
To  save  the  body,  save  the  outward  form. 
A  church  is  His  no  more,  whose  rites  or  creeds 
Keep  souls  untrue  to  truth  within  that  shows 
God's  tempering  there,  the  touch  that  makes  man  man. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxii. 

CHURCn,    CONSERVATISM   OF 

Come,  come,  the  church  is  wise,  perhaps,  to  put 
Her  brake  on  wheels  that  else  might  whirl  us  down, 
But  how  about  those  wheels  when  mounting  up? 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 


56  A  POET'S  CABINET 

CHURCH,   ITS  INFLUENCE 

The  church  can  but  confirm  a  fact  that  is, — 

A  love  that  Hves  already  in  the  soul. 

Not  outside  hands,  though  reaching  down  from  heaven, 

Can  push  inside  of  it  what  is  not  there, 

Nor  keep  love  inside,  would  it  then  pass  out. 

Dante,  I.,  i. 

CHURCH   UNITY 

When  shall  men  strive  to  find  a  wiser  way 
Of  warfare,  than,  with  hostile  ranks  at  bay. 
To  turn  from  these,  and  with  the  corps  contend 
That  on  their  own  side  their  own  cause  defend? 
What  if  corps-colors  differ?  Loyal  hearts 
May  cherish  and  advance  through  better  arts 
Their  church, — the  cause  of  truth. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  XLVi. 
He  sought  to  move  mankind 
Through  moving  unseen  springs  of  love  behind 
Man's  thought  and  deed.    His  church,  assuredly, 
Were  but  like  Him  if  seeking  unity 
Not  in  the  mask  that  hides  whatever  strife 
Disturbs  the  soul,  but  in  the  inward  life. — 

Idem,  XLiv. 

CIRCUMSTANCE 

On  earth  men  cannot  choose  their  soul's  relations, 
But  riding  toward  success  must  bridle  circumstance. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxiii. 
Give  blind  men  sight.     At  first  their  new- viewed  sun 
Will  stand  still  in  the  heaven.    But  give  them  time, 
That  sun  will  set  and  rise.    Then  give  them  space, 
Lift  them  a  thousand  miles  above  the  soil. 
It  may  do  neither.  Columbus,  ii.,  3. 

CITY   LIFE 

Your  eternal  and  infernal  grind  for  gold  here  is  about 
as  deafening  as  mills  are  when  they  pound  it  from  the 
rocks. 

....  The  city  is  not  still,  you  think,  or  slow 

....  Or  comfortable.  Take  your  streets  and 
street  cars.  All  clogging  up  with  crowds  that  pour 
down  out  the  twenty  stories  of  your  sky-scrapers,  a 
man  might  better  risk  his  breath  and  body  when 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  57 

slipping  down  inside  a  load  of  wheat  just  emptying  in 
a  great  grain  elevator. 

....  You  scarcely  seem  to  like  our  modern  im- 
provements. 

....  They  do  not  all  improve. 

The  Two  Paths,  in. 
Ay,  far  from  pining  after  city-life, 

Where  things  moved  not  so  slowly,  as  they  said. 
Our  folk  had  found  enough  of  stir  and  strife 

In  this  more  quiet  life  that  here  we  led. 

We  might  but  watch  the  seasons  as  they  sped; 
Yet  some  new  task  or  sport  gave  each  its  leven; 

And,  whether  suns  or  storms  were  overhead, 
Compared  with  city-air,  all  stench  and  steven, 
Although  outside  their  world,  our  own  seem'd  nearer 
heaven.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xxiii. 

CITY  LIFE  AND  AIR 

I  think  the  rich  should  be  contented  when  they 
own  the  earth;  not  try  to  appropriate  all  the  air  as 
well. 

....  Youlike  the  country  air  the  best  then,  eh? 

....  There  was  a  time  I  did.  To-day  the  country 
is  filled  with  motors  shuttling  to  and  fro,  and  weaving 
shrouds  of  dust  and  gasoline  to  bury  everything  that 
once  was  fresh  and  sweet.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

CITY  LIFE  AND  CONCEALMENT 

....  They  still  are  in  the  city. 

....  Why  stay  here? 

....  To  hide,  for  one  thing.  For  an  active  frame, 
a  moving  screen  is  better  than  a  fixture;  and  there  is 
nothing  like  a  crowd  to  keep  an  individual  incon- 
spicuous. Idem. 

CITY  LIFE  AND  OBSERVATION 

The  stories  of  a  city  life  are  printed  in  types  of  many 
different  climes  and  classes ;  and  those  who  often  meet 
strange  characters  get  used  to  not  interpreting  their 
meaning.    It  would  not  be  so  in  a  little  village. 

Idem. 

CLASSICAL 

So  I  fear,  when  I  see  men  striving  to  mold 
The  forms  of  the  new  after  those  that  are  old. 


58  A  POET'S  CABINET 

While  all  true  life  grows  better  and  better, 
That  classical  models  a  modern  may  fetter. 
Small  virtue  has  one  with  no  hope  in  his  heart, 
And  little  of  merit,  if  none  in  his  art. 

The  Artist's  Aim. 

CLASSICS,  THE 

Let  stay  thy  "classics"!     No  one  not  a  fool 
To  get  new  learning  need  forget  the  old; 
And  minds,   like  fruit-trees,   bear  their  best   when 
grafted.  Princeton  University. 

CLEARNESS   IN  EXPRESSION 

Shell  your  thoughts  before 
You  fling  them  at  us — are  so  hard  to  crack! 
You  surely  would  not  have  them  crack  our  skulls? 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

CLIMBING  vs.  JUMPING 

A  man  who  is  always  content  to  climb,  never  gets 
along  as  fast  as  one  who  risks  an  occasional  jump ;  but 
he  is  much  less  likely  to  miss  his  aim  and  fall. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

CLINGING  NATURE  OF  GIRLS 

But  we,  poor  girls,  too  trusting  natures  have. 
Weak  parasites  at  best,  each  tall  stout  man 
Seems  just  the  thing  that  we  should  cling  about. 
But,  dear,  I  think  that  half  these  trunks  give  way: — 
The  wonder  is  we  dare  to  cling  at  all!     Haydn,  xx. 

CLOTHES  AND  CHARACTER 

....  A  noble  race,  who  live  there  in  a  state 

Almost  of  Paradise,  their  wants  but  few 

And  nature  so  profuse — I  tell  you  truth — 

They  neither  toil  nor  spin. 

....  Nor  spin?     Why  how 

About  their  clothing? 

.  .  .  .  Is  not  needed. 

.  .  .  .  What? 

....  Oh,  you  get  used  to  that! 

....  Then   how  about — 

Their  character? 

....  Is  not  so  much  a  thing 

Of  clothes  as  Europeans  think,  perhaps. 

....  But  then 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  59 

....  The  Turks  keep  faces  veiled;  turn  all 

The  body  into  private  parts — what  for? 

If  ill-desire  be  fruit  of  thinking,  germed 

In  curiosity,  to  clear  away 

Some  underbrush,  and  let  in  light  might  help 

To  blight  the  marsh-weed,  and  reveal,  besides, 

Part  of  the  beauty  that  brought  bliss  to  Eden. 

....  You  mean 

....  That  nothing  like  a  length  of  robe, 

Material  in  substance  and  in  sense, 

Can  stole  an  anti-spirit-ministry. 

It  bags  what  heaven  made  that  the  world  may  deem 

The  bag  well  baited  for  a  game  of  hell. 

....  You  talk  in  riddles. 

.  .  .  Read  a  page  or  two 

From  human  nature,  they  are  solved. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 

A  true  lady  never  is  civil  to  one  on  account  of  his 
dress.  For  my  part,  I  wish  that  all  men,  who  ever 
expect  to  be  married,  could  get  into  a  woman's  clothes 
before  they  get  into  her  clutches. 

....  And  what  would  they  find,  pray,  in  there? 

....  Find,  first,  a  good  deal  of  sham.  You  know 
what  a  maid  is? 

....  What? 

....  Why,  what  but  a  thing  that  is  made  ? 

The  Ranch  Girl,  iv. 

There  are  some  society  women  who  in  character 
often  seem  just  what  they  are  in  appearance.  Three- 
fourths  of  their  substance  is  dress;  and  all  of  the  soft 
sleek  satin  and  silk  is  on  the  outside. 

....  And  what  on  the  inside,  pray? 

....  Well,  very  extensively,  pins.  Idem. 

CLOUDS 

The  sunset? — Ah,  what  comes  on  earth  so  bright. 
So  beautiful  as  clouds? — There  were  no  clouds 
Where  one  could  always  look  and  see  the  heaven. 

Haydn,   lvii. 

CLUB 

Suppose  we  club  together — ay,  let  fly 
Our  blows  at  him  together — down  him  sooner! 

Columbus,    I.,    3. 


6o  A  POET'S  CABINET 

CO-EDUCATION 

....  You  would  not  open  then  our  college-doors 

To  women? 

....  Why  not? 

....  Why,  our  boys  and  girls 

Might  think  of  love ! 

....  That  would  be  no  new  thing; 

And,  being  wont  to  walk  in  love,  when  young, 

They  might  be  much  less  prone  to  fall  in  love. 

In  ways  not  wise,  when  older.        Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

....  And  you  would  have  them  like  each  other? 
....  Yes. 

It  seems  important  if  they  are  to  marry. 
Like  ought  to  go  with  like.    And  paths  that  push 
Young  men  and  maids  together,  whet  their  wits 
And  make  their  weddings  wise  ones.  Idem. 

A  brotherly  or  sisterly  regard 

Grows  up  from  family  relationship. 

Train  boys  and  girls  together,  side  by  side, 

As  in  one  loyal  household,  holding  all 

Humanity,  and  then,  perchance,  may  love's  dishonor 

Seem  foul  as  incest,  and  imperilers  of  it, 

No  longer  vehicles  of  life  humane, 

Unsouled  of  self-control,  all  flag  themselves 

The  death-trucks  that  they  are,  and  make  health 

scud 
From  their  contagion  as  from  carrion. 

....  You  mean 

....  The  young  are  not  so  trained  in  Spain — 
Not  schooled  to  know  each  other,  soul  by  soul, 
And  nothing  but  the  soul  can  outweigh  sense. 

Columbus,  n.,  I. 

COLLEGE  MEN  IN  NON-COLLEGE  SURROUNDINGS 

I  sometimes  regret  our  sending  our  boy  to  college. 
This  having  in  the  same  family  two  kinds  of  products, 
— one  educated  and  one  uneducated, — is  risky — is 
apt  to  turn  out  like  our  planting  together  in  our 
garden  two  kinds  of  corn.  The  kind  meant  to  be 
sweet  had  too  much  pop  in  it,  and  the  kind  meant 
to  pop  had  too  much  sweet. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  6l 

COLOR-HARMONY  IN  DRESSING 

How  did  you  choose  that  color  for  your  cape,  too? 
Outside  the  clouds  that  veil  the  suns  at  evening,  I 
never  saw  such  contrasts  as  between  that  cape  and 
skirt;  and  then,  inside  of  it  {handling  the  cape),  with 
these  flaps  hanging  here  like  little  doors.  I  say  it  is  a 
cute  thing  in  us  women  to  make  ourselves  all  bright 
and  tidy  here !  It  seems  a  fitting  gateway  then  to  that 
which  holds  the  heart ;  ay,  ay,  and  homes  our  love. 

The  Two  Paths,  ii. 

COLUMBUS 

Is  from  Genoa; 
A  mathematician,  studied  at  Pavia. 
Since  then,  till  now,  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
A  sailor  and  a  soldier — in  the  scrubs 
At  Naples,  Tunis,  famous  for  his  fights 
Against  the  infidel — last  year,  the  man 
Who  clampt  his  frailer  bark  against  a  huge 
Venetian  galley,  and,  when  both  took  fire. 
Driven  to  the  waters,  holding  but  an  oar, 
Swam  in  to  Lisbon ;  and  that  oar  of  his. 
All  that  he  brought  here,  may  yet  prove  to  be 
The  scepter-symbol  of  a  mightier  sway 
Than  your  King  ever  dreamed  of.      Columbus,  i.,  i. 

I  can  wait  forever 
The  light  is  in  me.     But  could  you  see  through 
These  forms  that  cloak  it,  worse  than  worst  of  rags. 
Discourtesy,  suspicion,  and  contempt 
Of  those  who  know  Columbus  as  the  fool? 

Idem,  I.,  2. 

COMIC  TREATMENT,  DUE  TO  POPULARITY 

....  Why,  mama  has  been  publicly  disgraced. 
They  say  the  soldiers  seized  her — knocked  her  hat 
lop-sided.    Think !     And  how  she  must  have  looked ! 

....  Yes,  what  a  picture  for  the  comic  papers! 

....  The  comic  papers  are  but  incidents.  They 
mainly  make  the  smile  a  little  broader  with  which  we 
greet  a  popular  favorite. 

....  They  hurt 

....  Why  any  more  so  than  the  tickling  that  we 
give  to  little  children,  when  we  like  them? 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ii. 


62  A  POETS  CABINET 

COMMERCE 
Soon  shall  winds  that  leave  the  sky  arouse  the  waves 

of  every  strand, 
And  the  sails  of  friendly  commerce  hail  the  ports  of 

every  land. 
Soon  shall  throb  the  tramp  of  labor,  and  the  whir  of 

work  be  wheel'd 
Where  a  host  of  emigration  camp  on  every  vacant  field; 
Where  shall  wise  men  aid  the  unwise;  and  as  hand  to 

hand  they  toil. 
Train,  anon,  the  fruits  of  culture  in  their  souls  as  in 

the  soil. 
More  and  more  the  host  advances,  though  but  lower 

gains  it  sought, 
Bridging  vales  and  felling  forests  for  the  paths  of  love 

and  thought. 
Making  earth  a  human  frame,  with  ribs  of  steel  and 

nerves  of  wire, 
Destin'd  soon  to  thrill  responsive  at  the  touch  of  one 

desire. 
Learning,  duty,  love,  are  coming.    Toil  ye  on,  aspiring 

souls, 
On  to  where  unroll  before  you,   grander  methods, 

grander  goals. 
Comes  a  day  in  which  the  sun  shall  burn  the  mists 

upon  the  hills, 
Flame  against  the  frozen  summits,  flash  adown  from 

melting  rills, 
Thaw  the  whited  wastes  to  verdure,  flood  the  plains 

and  quicken  dearth. 
Rout  the  clouds  and  all  between  the  man  and  heaven 

that  gave  him  birth. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xvii. 

COMMISSIONS 

Places  of  trust  are  only  for  the  trusted ; 
And  high  commissions  but  for  men  with  missions. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  in.,  2. 

COMMON  SENSE 

....  Oh,  no,  not  so  very  strange!  The  strange 
things  in  the  world,  I  am  beginning  to  think,  are  those 
that  are  the  most  sensible. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  63 

....  You  hardly  believe,  then,  in  common  sense. 

....  No;  if  sense  were  common,  the  devil  would 
lose  his  kingdom. 

....  What  do  you  mean? 

....  Would  lose  his  world.  According  to  the 
Bible,  you  know,  the  world  is  the  thing  of  which  he 
is  prince. 

....  Elected  that,  I  suppose,  by  popular  suffrage. 

....  No;  by  popular  sufferance — the  method  of 
selecting  rulers  where  people  are  governed  not  by 
constitutional  codes  but  by  constitutional  cowardice. 

....  Your  hope  for  those  who  have  to  inhabit  the 
world  seems  rather  a  dismal  one. 

....  What  do  you  take  it  to  be? 

....  To  get  out  of  the  devil's  kingdom  by  dying. 

....  Oh,  no;  one  can  sometimes  find  a  foreigner 
in  that  kingdom  and  yet  not  of  it,  and  then  he  can 
know  by  experience  something  of  a  holier  subject,  and 
a  higher  state,  even  while  he  is  living. 

....  Oh! 

....  Don't  owe  me.  You  owe  me  nothing.  It  is  I 
that  owe  you.  I  should  like  to  spend  the  whole  of  the 
rest  of  my  life  in  paying  the  debt.    Will  you  let  me  ? 

Where  Society  Leads,  iii. 

No  common  system  can  deprive  every  agent  of  it  of 
common  sense.  Artistic  vs.  Scientific  Education. 

COMMUNISM,  THE  HIGHER 

The  world  is  a  ship  that  sails  through  space; 

And  men  are  voyagers  journeying  where 
One  destiny  waits  for  all  the  race, 

One  common  port  for  joy  or  care. 
Why  not,  like  travelers,  launched  at  sea. 

Join  hands  and  hearts,  and,  in  every  way, 
If  heaven  be  love,  wherever  we  be. 

Begin  the  heaven  we  seek  to-day? 

Love  and  Life,  Li. 

COMPANIONSHIP  {see  ALONE  and  lonely) 
A  foe  we  meet  upon  a  desert  plain. 

Where  we  who  meet  turn  back  to  back,  and  part, 
Is  better  than  a  friend  who  brings  disdain 

To  greet  the  utterance  of  a  trusting  heart. 


64  A  POETS  CABINET 

A  slighter  cloud  above  the  Christ  had  hover'd 
If  men  had  made  his  flesh  their  only  mark; 
His  woe  was  love  that  felt  love  undiscover'd, 

The  Father's  face  withdrawn,  and  dying  in  the  dark. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxix. 
COMPARISON  {see  FANCY  and  imagination) 

COMPETENCE  VS.  WEALTH  {see  MONEY-MAKING) 

Why  seek  for  riches,  when  we  have  enough? 
....  Enough!    Oh,  sluggard!    Have  we  that? 
....  We  have — 

Enough  for  comfort,  not  enough  for  care; 
Enough  to  make  us  grateful  for  the  wage 
Rewarding  earnest  work;  but  not  enough 
To  bind  long  habit  to  their  fate  whose  course 
While  serving  earth  has  made  them  slaves  to  it. 
The  peace  of  life  crowns  competence,  not  wealth. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

COMPLACENCY 

So,  more  to  shock  her  than  for  sympathy, 
My  thought  play'd  round  the  surface  of  her  life : 
It  had  been  shaped  so — to  so  smooth  a  thing — 
I  burn'd  to  warp  it  of  complacency. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  l. 

COMPROMISE 

0, 1  hail  the  crackling  barriers  of  expedient  compromise. 

Let  them  fall,  nor  more  obstruct  the  pathways  of  the 
brave  and  wise, 

O,  I  welcome  shouts  of  war  when  men  defend  human- 
ity; 

They  may  die,  but  right  will  live,  and  God,  and  give 
the  victory.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  in. 

CONCEALMENT  {see  DECEPTION,  FRANKNESS,  TRUTH) 

The  truth  may  harm. 
" How  so? "  he  ask'd.     "If  one  show  naked  sin, — 
Who  knows? — it  then  may  shame  men  from  the  sin. 
And  could  the  naked  good  accomplish  more? 
Must  not  we  Christians  here  confess  our  faults? 
Why  should  we  not?     Has  wrong  such  lovely  smiles 
And  loving  tones,  that  men  should  long  for  it? 
The  harm  is  in  the  lie  that  masks  the  sin. " 

Haydn,  xxvii. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  6$ 

Is  ill  less  ill  when  hid? — 

Is  not  the  penitent  a  sinner  frank, 

The  hypocrite  a  sinner  not  so  frank? — 

Idem. 
Their  aching  smiles  travest  with  joy-like  arts 
The  throes  of  grief  that  rack  their  trembling  hearts. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 
Who  lives  not  conscious  of  some  inward  thought 
Which  out  to  outward  life  should  not  be  brought? 
How  many  a  soul  must  purchase  all  its  joy 
With  coin  one  test  of  ours  could  prove  alloy ! 
Earth  owes  its  faith  to  men  who  will  not  share 
Distrust  with  him  who  now  has  none  to  bear. 
No  sighs  of  theirs  give  vent  to  inward  strife, 
Lest  weak  confession  give  it  voice  and  life. 

Idem. 

CONCEITS,  LIGHT,  AS  AFFECTED  BY  IRRITATION 

When  minds  are  filled  so  full  of  light  conceits. 
Chipped  off  like  clippings  from  substantial  concepts, 
They  store  fit  kindling-wood,  when  comes  a  friction, 
To  burst  in  flame.  Dante,  i.,  2. 

CONCENTRATION  OF  THOUGHT  AND  ENERGY 

We  are  men; 
And  straight  and  narrow  must  our  pathways  be. 
If,  Adam-like,  we  would  be  gods,  we  fall. 
Not  given  to  mortal  is  the  life  supreme. 
In  naught  unbalanced,  laden  light  in  naught, 
Existence  evermore  at  equipoise. 
Complete  with  that  which  on  itself  depends. 
Oft,  who  his  worth  would  double,  nothing  does 
Except  to  break  the  back  of  worth  that  was. 
While  doubled  burdens  fall  to  doubled  waste. 
We  men  should  humbler  be,  and  pray  to  heaven 
To  have  horizons  hanging  nearer  us. 
Our  views  too  broad  unfit  us  for  the  earth, 
Yet  fit  us  not  for  loneliness  divine, — 
The  wide  chill  chaos,  back  behind  the  stars. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  Llil. 

CONCORDANT,  ALL  LIFE  IS 

When  the  tunes  of  life  get  past  their  solos,  and  have 
reached  the  chorus,  it  may  be  found  that  all  the  parts 


66  A  POET'S  CABINET 

have  uses,  and  equal  uses,  whether  they  be  played  by 
poor  and  feeble  or  by  rich  and  strong. 

On  Detective  Duty,  ii. 

CONFIDENCES 

She  was  a  person  of  strong  prejudices,  and,  on 
certain  occasions,  evidently  took  delight  in  displaying 
them,  not  only  in  her  words,  but  also  through  eccentric 
little  adjustments  of  her  forehead,  eyes,  lips,  head, 
shoulders,  and  whole  frame.  At  the  same  time,  with 
those  whom  she  liked,  these  traits  were  not  disagreeable. 
They  were  interesting;  they  were  charming.  There 
was  something  so  confiding  in  the  spirit  that  she  mani- 
fested when  she  told  one  how  she  hated  other  people, 
something  so  sympathetic  in  her  bearing,  that  her  pres- 
ence seemed  to  act  like  sunshine  on  one's  intellectual 
and  spiritual  energies.      Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  ii. 

CONNECTIONS  AND  CHARACTER 

....  We  have  had  in  our  house,  this  evening, 
people  as  well  connected  in  Europe  as  any  who 
ever  visited  America, 

....  What  difference  does  that  make? — Your 
train  may  have  very  fine  silk  in  it.  Does  that  fact 
keep  it  clean,  in  case  you  trail  it  in  the  mud. 

Where  Society  Leads,  ii. 

CONQUEROR,   THE 

The  man  who  tramples  on  his  country's  foes 
Treads  upward  toward  a  height,  however  gained, 
Where  all  his  countrymen  look  up  to  him. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

CONSCIENCE 

Our  conscience  is  the  leven  of  character; 

And  just  enough  of  it  may  sweeten  life. 

But  too  much  keeps  in  ferment  moods  that  work, 

Like  brewings,  flung  to  froth  and  sediment; 

The  froth  flies  up  and  off  to  vex  our  friends; 

The  rest  sinks  down  in  self,  embittering 

Our  own  experience.  Haydn,  xxxix. 

Few  can  see,  beyond  their  thought,  the  source  whence 
all  that  lights  them  flows ; 

Few,   except   the   best   whose  heaven   seems   bright 
though  earth  be  dark  with  foes; 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  67 

Or  the  worst  who  learn  that,  when  uprightness  bends 

to  evil's  might, 
Conscience  brings  the  consciousness  that  souls  have 
lost  their  spirit-light. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxill. 
Does  not  our  conscience  come  from  consciousness? 
And  when,  then,  are  we  conscious?     When  unwell: 
Hot,  swollen  blood  frets  limbs  that  feel  inflamed; 
A  sound  man  lives  unconscious  of  its  flow. 
And  so  a  morbid  train  of  foul  ideas 
Will  vex  a  soul  diseased.    But  if  in  health, 
Its  aims  all  true  to  God  and  self, — what  call 
For  conscience,  which  we  wear  but  as  the  curb 
Whereby  God  reins  the  thought  that  love  reins  not  ? — 

Haydn,  xxxix. 
Our  outward  lives  will  serve  truth's  inward  laws. 
Unconscious  of  the  conscience  that  but  checks 
The  course  of  him  who  moves  toward  conscious  wrong. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xli. 
This  too  much  conscience,  overbalancing 
All  wiser  judgment,  has  wrought  worse  results, 
Made  men  crave  heaven  and  fear  for  hell,  so  much 
That,  in  the  gap  betwixt  the  two,  was  left 
No  charity  with  which  to  do  good  here 
While  on  the  earth,  Haydn,  xxxix. 

But  ah,  what  hell-forged  fetters  rest 
Where  one's  own  conscience  must  attest 
He  would,  but  dare  not,  do  his  best. 
Because  his  lust  or  hunger  waives 
The  truth  that  but  the  spirit  saves! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxi. 
You,  who  in  bondage  feel  because  your  lives 
Have  made  your  conscience  curb  you  for  your  sins, 
Think  not  your  conscious  wills  can  rid  your  souls 
Of  that  which  will  not  mind  a  mortal  will. 
The  law  of  truth,  which  is  our  spirit's  law, 
Is  omnipresent  as  our  spirit's  Lord.       Idem,  xli. 
The   next  best  thing  to  having  a   personal  con- 
science, I  suppose,  is  having  a  parent's  conscience, — ■ 
especially  if  one  believe  in  heredity. 

Where  Society  Leads,  11. 


68  A  POET'S  CABINET 

CONSCIOUS 

I  was  not  conscious 

....  Nay,  nor  is  a  child 

Of  aught  in  her  of  movement  or  of  form, 
That,  fitting  sweet  ideals  of  loveliness, 
Makes  fancied  grace  and  beauty  visible. 

Columbus,  I.,  2. 

CONSCIOUSNESS 

Borne  through  life,  all  move  in  orbits,  whose  far  cycles 

curve  about 
Circling  spirit-light  within  them,  circled  by  the  world's 

without. 
What  they  call  their  consciousness  is  but  the  focus 

where  are  brought 
Rays  borne  in  from  all  about  them  burning  to  a  blaze 

in  thought.     A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxiii. 

CONSISTENT 

When  into  doubtful  paths  they  stray, 
The  wise  turn  back,  tho'  fools  may  stay, 
Consistent — but  that  title  lacks 
One  word  to  make  it  fit  the  quacks, 
Where  wisdom  grows  and  change  attacks. 
Consistent — monomaniacs . 

Idem,  Doubting,  xxiii. 

CONSTANCY 

For  who  that  loves  can  think  a  human  heart 
Can  ever  lightly  lay  its  love  aside? — 

The  spirit's  life,  whose  gentle  thrills  impart 
Each  separate  ripple  of  the  power  supplied 
For  every  act,  can  aught  its  presence  hide? — 

Ah,  sooner  might  the  heaving  sea  attest 
Its  life,  without  the  movement  of  the  tide; 

And  sooner  might  the  sunlight  sink  to  rest. 

Nor  trail  the  sunset  hues  adown  the  glowing  west. 

Idem,  Daring,  LXIII. 

CONTRAST 

She  came :  she  went :  a  beam  sublime 
That,  straying  toward  a  sunless  chme, 
Trembled  along  the  edge  of  Time 

And  then  in  fright  sped  back  amain. 
Ah,  wherefore  came  she  if  to  go ! 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  69 

I  had  not  known  the  half  of  woe 
Had  I  not  felt  that  heavenly  glow, 

And,  match'd  with  it,  found  earth  so  vain. 

My  Ideal. 

CONTROL,   DIVINE    {see   SELF-CONTROL) 

Thanks  to  God  and  adoration,  that  our  minds  whose 

freedom  hied 
In  the  first  vague  dread  of  duty  from  the  sway  they 

had  not  tried, 
Ne'er  can  be,  v/here'er  they  wander,  free  from  that 

divine  control 
Which  attains  its  grandest  glory  in  the  good  of  every 

soul; 
Nor  can  find  where  life  is  darkest  aught  that  wholly 

hides  from  sight 
Love  amid  the  springs  of  being  imaged  in  the  depths 

of  right.         A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxxiv. 

CONVERSION    {see   CHOICE,    FORMALISTS,    PRIESTS,    and 

regeneration) 
The  truth  converts  one  oft,  if  he  be  true. 
The  true  man  loves  his  own,  and  fights  for  it ; 
And,  since  his  own  is  little  and  God's  is  large, 
He  often  fights  to  fall.    Yet  ranks  on  high 
Now  throng  with  heroes,  whose  too  slender  blades 
Were  wielded  but  for  slender  causes  once; 
Nor  sheathed,  ere  flying  shatter'd  from  their  grasp, 
Till  truth  they  fought  had  proven  too  strong  for  them. 
Then,  when  they  knew  themselves,  and   knew  the 

truth. 
And  knew  its  mercy  too,  they  loved  the  truth, 
And  came  to  be  its  champions,  evermore. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxiv. 

cordiality 

It  seems  to  me  better,  in  the  long  run,  to  be  cordial 
to  everybody. 

....  Why  so? 

....  Because  everybody's  opinion  of  us,  using  the 
phrase  in  one  sense,  doesn't  need  to  wait  very  long, 
nor  change  very  much,  in  order  to  become  everybody's 
opinion  of  us  in  another  and  more  general  sense. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 


70  A  POETS  CABINET 

Cordialities  that  make  the  backward  friends 
But  tempt  the  forward  to  presumption.    Force, 
Alive  to  clear  its  own  approaches,  flouts 
A  welcome  meant  for  weakness.     Columbus,  i.,  2. 

CORDOVA,  SPAIN,  BY  NIGHT 

Night  bade  me  rest.     I  left  the  street, 
Its  faces  fair  and  banter  sweet; 
And  oh,  how  human  seem'd  the  town 
Beside  which  I  had  laid  me  down! 
But,  ere  I  slept,  the  rising  moon, 
From  skies  as  blue  as  if  't  were  noon, 
Pour'd  forth  her  light  in  silvery  streams, 
Eclipsing  all  my  light  of  dreams. 
And  soon,  as  if  some  power  would  shake 
My  drowsy  eyes,  and  make  them  wake. 
The  walls  were  spray'd  with  showers  of  light. 
Whose  fiickerings  left  a  fountain  bright 
That  toss'd  the  moonbeams  in  its  play, 
And  dash'd  and  fiash'd  their  gleams  away. 
I  just  could  see  the  fountain  flow 
Within  a  marble  court  below. 
It  seem'd  a  spirit,  clothed  in  white. 
But  half  reveal'd  to  mortal  sight, 
Whose  glancing  robes  would  lift  and  glide 
O'er  dainty  limbs  that  danced  inside. 
And  touched  the  ground  with  throbbing  sweet 
As  if  the  tread  of  fairy  feet ; 
While  round  about  the  fount-sent  shower, 
That  strung  with  pearls  each  grateful  flower, 
Rare  fragrance  rose  from  bush  and  bower. 
Ere  long  across  the  marble  court 
Soft  laughter  rang  and  calls  of  sport, 
And  maidens  pass'd  the  entering  gate. 
Whose  voices  rose  in  sweet  debate, 
So  clear,  so  pure,  they  might  have  sprung 
From  moonlight,  not  from  mortal  tongue. 
I  lay  there  charm'd,  my  eyelids  closed. 
My  limbs  enchain'd;  but,  ere  I  dozed. 
Gave  one  look  more.    Alas  for  me ! 
The  moon  had  moved,  and  made  me  see. 
In  dreamlike  light  where  slept  the  day, 
^  Vague  forms  that  join'd  those  maids  at  play. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  71 

They  linger'd  there,  half  hid  by  trees 

And  sprawling  cactus;  now  at  ease, 

Now  whirling  ojff  in  shadowy  sets 

Where  urged  guitars  and  castonets. 

Anon,  this  music  rose  and  fell, 

As  if,  because,  all  fill'd  so  well, 

So  laden  down  with  sweets  before, 

The  languid  air  could  hold  no  more. 

"Ah,  how  could  it  or  I?"  I  thought; 

"This  land  of  lasting  spring  is  fraught 

With  charms  that  pale  by  living  truth 

The  brightest  dreams  that  lured  my  youth.  *' 

Then,  while  the  music  heaved  my  breast, 

The  thought  it  cradled  sank  to  rest. 

I  slept  and  dreamt.    To  you  it  seems 

No  censer,  swung  to  souls  in  dreams 

Before  the  mind's  most  holy  shrine, 

Rear'd  there  to  memories  most  divine, 

Could  incense  hold  whose  fumes  could  rise 

And  dim  what  bless'd  my  closing  eyes. 

You  think  my  soul  most  surely  thought 

Of  Cordova  in  dreams  it  brought. 

You  think  that  once  again  it  calms 

My  mood  to  watch  beneath  the  palms 

The  ancient  river  freshly  lave 

Rome's  ruined  bridge  that  naught  could  save. 

You  think,  once  more,  my  wonder  wends 

Across  that  orange-court  and  bends 

In  that  cathedral-mosk,  in  which 

A  thousand  shafts  with  sculptures  rich 

Surround  the  soul  like  ghosts  of  trees 

Beyond  the  touch  of  time  or  breeze, 

While  all  the  shafts  to  all  bespeak. 

In  jasper,  porphyry,  verdantique, 

The  skill  that  train'd  their  artist's  hand 

In  grand  old  times  that  blest  this  land 

Before  the  Moor's  glad  suns  had  set 

On  days  that  earth  can  ne'er  forget. 

Nay,  nay,  I  dreamt  with  joy  intense, 

But  did  not  heed  a  hint  from  thence. 

You  think  my  spirit  rose  to  flights, 

Aspiring  past  all  present  sights. 


72  A  POETS  CABINET 

Invoking  from  the  grave  of  time 
The  heroes  of  that  city's  prime, — 
The  great  Gonsalvo  marching  on, 
Or  Ferdinand  of  Aragon? — 
You  think  I  saw,  by  camp-fires  bright, 
The  turban  bow  beneath  the  sight 
Of  chieftains  marshall'd,  far  and  near, 
With  drifting  plume  and  flashing  spear, 
Like  cloud  and  lightning  sent  to  sweep 
Abdillah's  Moors  across  the  deep? — 
You  think  I  trod  these  lanes  in  days 
When  Califs  vied  to  sound  their  praise, 
And  term'd  the  town  that  seem'd  so  blest 
"The  grander  Bagdad  of  the  west"; 
Or  trod  them,  when  it  gave  the  Goth 
His  "Home  of  holiness  and  troth"; 
Or,  long  ere  through  its  children's  veins 
Flow'd  Roman  blood  to  richen  Spain's, 
Beheld  it  named  by  every  mouth, 
"The  matchless  gem  of  all  the  south"? — 
Nay,  nay,  I  dreamt  with  joy  intense. 
But  did  not  heed  a  hint  from  thence. 

Afy  Dream  at  Cordova. 

CORSETS  AND  CRINOLINE 

....  Corsets  and  crinoline — traps  for  women ! 
....  No — for  men.     They  go  around  the  one; 
they  get  around  the  other. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i.,  2. 

COURTESIES 

For  your  sake  made  and  kept  a  friend 

By  courtesies  limbering  my  stiff  limbs  of  pride 

Till  limp  and  limping  as  humility. 

Columbus,  I.,  2. 

COURTESY 

When  courtesy 
And  caution  balance  in  the  scales,  the  heart 
Is  kinder  than  the  head,  if  not  more  wise. 

Idem,  III.,  I. 
True  courtesy  shows  itself  to  the  least  as  well  as 
the  greatest.    If  once  a  lady  then  always. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  iv. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  73 

COURTING  {see  FLIRT  and  suitors) 
A  fool  may  think  that  a  passing  glance, 
Like  a  spark  from  a  wheel,  as  he  whirls  in  a  dance, 
A  touch  of  his  hand,  a  word,  a  sigh. 
May  win  the  heart  that  his  form  flits  by. 
But  love  is  a  boon,  if  wise  one  be. 
Too  dear  to  be  won  by  a  worthless  plea. 
Wise  love  has  a  spirit  that  craves  to  find 

The  inward  mind, 
A  soul  to  its  own  soul  so  allied 

That  though  no  more 

Of  flesh  two  wore 
Their  souls  would  linger  side  by  side. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxv. 

In  common  walks  of  life  the  two  had  met ; 

And  joined  in  common  thought  and  common  speech ; 
And,  often,  many  a  common  good  to  get, 

Had  tender'd  apt  assistance  each  to  each. 
Placed  side  by  side,  their  hands  had  touch'd  and 
trembled, 

Their  eyes  glanced  at  and  through  each  other's  eyes. 
Behind  the  hands  were  hearts;  nor  had  dissembled; 

Behind  the  eyes  were  souls;  there  had  been  smiles 
and  sighs. 

And  then,  anon,  to  him  this  maiden's  frame, 

One  mote  of  many  a  million  in  the  world. 
More  dear  appear'd  than  all  the  gems  that  flame 

In  all  the  stars  through  all  heaven's  welkin  whirl'd. 
Thus  thought  the  man;  and  she,  the  while  he  thought 
it, 

Had  found  such  strength  within  his  frame  of  dust, 
Which  even  winds  could  waste,  that,  ere  he  sought  it, 

Her  soul,  at  rest  with  his,  had  felt  unending  trust. 

Idem,  Serving,  xiii.,  xiv. 

courting,  its  method 
Most  maids  love  mastery;  and  the  closest  cling 
To  those  who  show  the  strength  to  hold  them  fast. 
Full  many  a  suitor,  when  he  wins  his  love. 
Will  treat  her  merely  like  some  petted  puss, 
Caress,  then  cuff  her,  till  she  yield  at  last. 
Won  solely  through  his  wondrous  wilfulness. 


74  A  POETS  CABINET 

If  one  defer  to  her,  she  pities  him; 

And  names  him  friend,  because  she  feels  him  frail. 

Her  favorite  cavalier  seems  less  a  friend, 

At  first,  than  foe  who  stays  the  brunt  in  time 

To  seem  to  save  her  when  she  seems  to  fall. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lvi. 

COURTING,  A  SENSITIVE  MAN's 

Once  upon  a  time,  I  too  discovered,  by  the  presence 
of  unwonted  flutterings  in  my  bosom,  that  I  also  had  a 
similar  yearning  for  the  companionship  of  a  similar 
combination  of  human  flesh  and — what  I  then  con- 
sidered— human  coloring.  And  in  that  romantic 
period  it  often  happened  that,  the  evening  after  I  had 
called  upon  her,  and  the  next  and  next  and  next,  I 
would  sit  alone,  unable  utterly  to  do  a  thing  but  face 
my  mirror,  and  to  meditate  upon  the  problem  how  to 
arrange  to  call  on  her  again.  At  last,  upon  the  fifth 
night  possibly,  I  would  dress  myself,  pull  on  a  pair  of 
gloves  a  size  too  small  for  me,  and,  saying  "I  have 
waited  long  enough;  to-night  I  luill  call,"  saunter  out 
and  down  the  street,  and  reach  her  door-step.  But, 
alas!  once  there,  my  heart  would  fail  me.  I  would 
say:  "I  cannot — not  to-night;  it's  soon,  too  soon. 
Were  I  to  go  in  now  she  really  might  suppose  that  I 
thought  something  of  her ! "  So  I  would  stand  a  while 
debating  with  myself,  or  cross  the  street  and  try  to 
look  from  a  distance  into  her  parlor- window,  wonder- 
ing who  that  fellow  was  that  was  with  her  now,  and 
there  I  would  linger,  walking  up  and  down  for  hours, 
until  aroused  at  last  by  a  strong  conviction  that  every 
policeman  on  the  street  had  marked  me  out  as  some 
suspicious  character.  And  this  absurd  performance  I 
would  repeat  for  nights  and  nights,  until,  perhaps 
upon  the  tenth  night,  I  would  summon  up  sufficient 
pluck  to  ring  her  door-bell  with  a  throbbing  heart,  pass 
into  her  parlor  with  a  face  as  flushed  as  Daniel's 
prophets  entering  into  the  fiery  furnace,  and  then 
spend  all  the  evening  talking  to  her  sister!  for  fear 
still  that  the  girl  I  fancied  really  might  suppose  that  I 
thought  something  of  her! 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  ix. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  73 

COWARD  {see  heroism) 
You  never  know  a  coward  soul  till  cowed 
By  gusts  out- winding  his  own  self-conceit; 
And  garbs  they  guise  in,  never  cloud  the  air 
In  time  for  us  to  brace  the  fence  they  fell. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 

CRANK,  A 

....  Him? 

A  crank, — and  worse,  a  creaking  crank! 
....  Without 

Some  crank  to  creak  of  it,  men  might  forget 
The  wheels  of  thought.  Idem,  i.,  i. 

CREDITOR 

No  watch-dog  keeps  a  creditor  at  bay 
Like  well-housed  earnings. 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 

CREEDS  {see  DOUBT,  FAITH,  PROGRESS  and  WORDs) 

The  thing  that  most  men  worship  is  themselves. 

Or,  look  they  upward,  then  it  is  the  god 

Most  like  themselves.    You  know  religion's  aim 

Is  bringing  gods  and  men  together;  so 

To  many  men  that  creed  seems  best,  which  best 

Makes  out  how  mean  and  small  a  god  can  be. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

When  souls  have  grown  to  truth,  their  nurture  needs, 
Ere  growth  can  pass  beyond  it,  growing  creeds, 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  liv. 

CRIME  vs.  FAULT 

....  Do  you  suppose  men  punish  most  the  ones 
that  are  the  most  at  fault? 

Why,  yes,  of  course. 

Oh  no. 

What  then? 

They  punish  crime. 

And  what  is  crime? 

The  fault  that  some  one  has  found  out.    It 

grows  in  low  life  usually.    The  seed  is  dropped  from 

sin  in  high  life.     With  God,  the  seed  may  count  for 

something.    Man  forms  his  judgment  from  the  growth. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 


76  A  POET'S  CABINET 

CRIMES 

Great  crimes  can  never  their  souls  allure, 

Who  have  kept  their  moods  and  memories  pure, 

And  so  I  know, 
That  the  souls  that  hold  to  the  right  with  ease, 
Have  fought  their  vice  before  they  fall. 
The  time  to  stop  sinning 
Is  ere  its  beginning. 

Love  and  Life,  xvii. 

CRITIC 

All  this  their  critic  cares  not  to  know. 
He  is  nothing  if  not  the  dog  of  his  day, 

Who  barks  or  who  licks 
As  his  master,  the  world,  may  make  him  obey 
By  throwing  him  bones  or  swinging  him  kicks. 
Pray,  what  can  he  know  till  all  the  world  know  it? 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 

CRITICISM,    EXCESSIVE 

Did  we  turn 
Our  preferences  to  pedagogues,  and  school 
The  souls  that  came  to  us  for  sympathy, 
Though  best  of  friends,  we  might  seem  worst  of  foes. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

CRITICS,  POPULAR 

Popular  critics,  like  other  popular  people,  give 
voice  to  popular  opinion.  They  are  on  the  crest  of  its 
wave  for  the  very  reason  that  they  have  the  full 
support  of  the  opinion  that  is  about  and  below  them. 
For  this  reason,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  those 
esteemed  the  best  critics  of  an  age  are  often  its  worst 
critics. 

The  Represejitative  Significance  of  Form,  xxvi. 

CROWDS,  COURTING  THEM 

Courting  crowds, 
A  soul  lives  crampt;  but  if  one  speak  the  truth. 
Crowds  leave — good  riddance! — place  is  clear'd  for 
friends.  Ideals  Made  Real,  xvii. 

CULPRIT 

Anon,  awaking,  he  could  hear  the  sound 

Of  vying  voices  from  a  seat  behind. 
And  saw  two  men  there,  as  he  turn'd  him  round. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  77 

And  one  had  eyes  of  that  swift  glancing  kind, 
Which  hint  the  culprit,  whose  suspicious  mind 
The  secrets  of  his  inner  self  would  shield. 

Low  views  of  others  and  himself  combined, 
Had  given  this  man  distrust,  not  all  conceal'd 
In  manners  taught  to    stay    what    should    not    be 
reveal'd.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xxxi. 

CULTURE,   STARTED  IN  DIFFERENT  WAYS 

The  temple  of  culture  is  entered  by  many  doors. 
The  instructor  who  induces  a  young  man  to  push  open 
one  of  them  will  force  him  to  a  glimpse  that  will  lure 
him  to  as  grand  an  experience  as  could  any  of  the 
others.  The  Literary  Artist  and  Elocution. 

CUPID 

Our  lips,  but  parting  e'en  to  speak  of  love, 
Infringe  on  Cupid;  and,  before  they  shut, 
Some  tingling  arrow  of  that  jealous  god 
Will  make  them  drop  all  soberness. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lv. 

CURRENT  VALUE  IN  TRUTH 

....  No  truth  then,  eh? 

....  Yes;  truth  enough  for  all. 

But  truth  expressed  is  coin  to  use,  not  hoard. 

For  when  it  bears  the  stamp  of  times  too  old, 

It  loses  current  value.  Columbus,  11.,  2. 

CURSES 

....  My  curses  on  you ! — To  the  sacrifice ! 
....  The  two  things  go  together.    And  how  kind, 
When  one  has  curses  loaded  on  him  so, 
To  let  him  load  them  on  another! 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

CUSTOM 

To  most  men  no  disgrace  can  loom  like  theirs 
Who  dare  do  aught  save  by  the  grace  of  custom. 
Where  earth's  esteem  is  what  all  strive  for  first, 
Her  customs  make  them  cowards  to  the  call 
Of  conscience;  and  the  foulest  crime 
Seems  not  a  curse,  if  it  be  only  common. 

Idem,  v. 
Is  it  so  well 
For  one  man  to  resist  what  all  men  wish? — 


78  A  POET'S  CABINET 

The  customs  that  the  centuries  have  crowned? 
How  many  have  dared  all,  to  thwart  the  worid, 
And  only  thwarted  good  the  worid  could  do  them ! 

Idem,  V. 

CUSTOMS 

Our  lives  reflect 
The  light  of  our  surroundings.    What  are  here? — 
Accursed  customs  that  mistrust  the  soul, 
Ay,  robe  its  every  feature  in  their  rags, 
Draped  all  to  hint  unshapeliness  beneath. 
Away  with  earthly  habits  that  can  hide 
God's  image  framed  within!  Columbus,  ii.,  I. 

The  world  has  its  encircling  customs  too. 
Drawn  sharply  round  the  spheres  we  fill  in  life. 
They  make  one  shame-faced,  make  the  soul  a  slave. 
We  need  the  truth  to  free  us  from  the  world. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  XLi. 

CYNIC 

Once  I  saw  a  mortal  sailing  toward  a  lone  isle  of 

the  sea 
Where,  he  thought,  no  other's  will  would  check  his 

own  that  would  be  free. 
First  upon  the  shore  he  rested;  then,  not  born  to  dwell 

alone, 
Longing  to  be  loved,  his  nature   broke   away  from 

reason's  throne. 
Howled  the  winds  like  witches'  voices;  moved  the 

shades  like  ghostly  forms. 
While  the  leaves  like  footsteps  rustled   'twixt  the 

thunders  and  the  storms. 
Till  the  cynic,  far  from  manhood,  all  man's  nobler 

traits  forgot, 
Curst  himself  and  earth  and  all  things,  rest  or  free- 
dom finding  not.  Idem,  Watching,  vii. 

CYNICISM 

We  lie  to  our  nature ;  we  twit  and  we  laugh ; 

We  dare 
To  jeer  of  a  love  that  was  ours, 

We  dare,  yet  there 
Through  thorns  and  tares  are  living  the  flowers! 

Love  and  Life,  xxxvi. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  79 

DAMN 
Not  far  away,  a  place  is  waiting  those 
Who  wish  to  damn  a  soul  for  doing  right, 
In  which  that  sort  of  thing  is  done  much  better. 

Dante,  iii.,  2. 

DAMNATION  {see  will-power) 
Some  tell  us  that  the  fairest  forms  on  earth, 
Most  full  of  mirth  and  softness  and  caress, 
Whose  mildness  tames  life's  wild,  coquettish  blood, 
Leave  in  the  tomb  their  loveliness  and  charm, 
And  go  thence,  fiends.  The  Aztec  God,  v. 

DAMNED,  THE 

Sad,  sad,  indeed,  is  the  lot  of  those 
Whom  no  one  mourns  when  their  coffins  close. 
How  lone,  when  the  robes  of  earth-life  fall. 
Are  spirits  that  hear  no  welcoming  call; 
Are  spirits  that  see  no  smile  of  delight. 
But,  flying  in  shame  from  all  things  bright, 
And,  hiding  in  horror  themselves  have  made, 
Live  ever  in  sunshine  and  dwell  in  shade. 

Love  and  Life,  lv. 

DANCING 

Ask  the  leaves 
The  reason  why  they  vibrate  in  the  breeze. 
Or  ask  the  trees  when  swaying  in  the  storm; 
Ask  of  the  spray-drop  leaping  from  the  rill, 
Or  up  and  down  amid  the  waves  at  sea; 
Ask  of  the  circling  smoke,  tornado's  cloud. 
The  sun  and  moon  revolving  round  the  world. 
But  when  the  throb  of  music  beats  the  air 
And  sets  the  currents  of  the  breast  in  motion, 
Sweeping  the  bounding  rills  to  rhythmic  waves 
That    dash    like    breakers   through    the   heart    and 

pulse. 
Ask  not  why  every  vein  begins  to  glow. 
Each  nerve  to  tremble,  all  the  frame  to  heave. 
And  to  and  fro  to  march,  to  leap,  to  dance, — 
Enough — if  natural ! — When  checking  nature. 
You  lay  your  human  hands  upon  the  work 
Heaven  meant  for  what  it  is;  you  are  profane. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 


8o  A  POETS  CABINET 

DARK 

Yet,  in  the  dark,  is  all  so  vague  and  wild. 

How  the  whole  air  is  weighted  with  the  gloom! 

Even  to  draw  it  in,  my  lungs,  o'ertaxed. 

Would   rather    choose   not   breathe    than    bear    the 

burden, 
These  clouds  are  curtained  like  a  funeral  pall, 
Fit  funeral  pall,  round  my  dear  dying  hope. 

Idem,  V. 
DAWN  (see  sunrise) 

Just  as  dawn  began 
Erasing  all  the  stars  with  lines  of  light. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xiv. 

They  rout  the  gloom 
Within  the  heart  sure  as  the  morning  sun 
That  spreads  new  glory  o'er  the  darkened  world, 
The  while  its  fire-sped  lances  tilt  the  shades 
That  fly  afar,  and  leave  our  lives  with  heaven. 

The  Aztec  God,  in. 

And  what  a  dawn  was  that ! 
As  if  the  sun  had  drawn  the  earth  to  itself, 
I  dwelt  in  central  light;  and  heaven,  high  heaven — 
Could  feel  some  rays,  perhaps,  was  touch'd  by  them, 
At  star-points  in  the  sky,  but  own'd  no  more. 

Haydn,  viii. 
Above  his  crimson  couch, 

The  sun  drew  back  the  curtains  of  the  east; 
While  pale-grown  shades  began  in  vales  to  crouch, 

Or,  hurrying  westward,  leave  the  world  releast 

From  spells  that  long  had  silenced  man  and  beast 
Then  winds,  arising,  shook  the  rustling  trees, 

As  if  they  said,  '"T  is  time  your  rest  had  ceast"; 
And  birds  that  sang  soar'd  high,  as  if  to  seize 
The  last  of  flickering  stars,  blown  out  by  morning's 

breeze. 
Soon  o'er  the  hills  ascends  the  sun's  bright  crown 

And,  richly  robed,  as  welcoming  thus  their  king. 
The  dew-deck'd  groves  and  bushes  bend  low  down. 

Bright  limbs  o'erladen  with  rare  gems  they  bring — 

Rare  gifts,  borne  all  too  soon,  on  sunny  wing, 
Toward  clouds  that  in  the  blue  dome  o'er  them  blaze. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  8l 

Then  sounds  of  labor  join  with  bells  that  ring; 
And  one  more  dawn  has  heard  the  prayer  and  praise 
Of  those  who  past  it  see  the  day  of  all  the  days. 
They  see  a  day,  where  heaven's  bright  grain  of  life 

Sprouts  in  the  last  dark  death-urn  of  the  night, 
And  buds  of  peace  burst  through  the  thorns  of  strife, 
And  souls  awake  to  praise  enduring  light. 
Ah,  even  now,  they  see,  with  earthly  sight. 
That  men  may  track  the  rain-storm  by  the  rose, 

And  make  the  wake  of  war  the  way  of  right. 
And  learn,  as  each  fresh  breath  of  morning  blows. 
How  sweet  and  fair  a  life  beneath  the  darkness  grows. 
So  might  our  youth  have  hail'd  this  morn;  but  he. 

For  whom  the  soft  winds  whisper'd  in  their  round, 
For  whom  the  brisk  birds  chirpt  their  calls  of  glee. 
For  whom  the  bright  sun  up  the  heavens  wound, 
And  all  the  world  of  work  awoke  to  sound. 
While  men  moved  gladly  and  the  children  leapt, — 

He,  dead  to  hope  and  happiness  profound. 
His  dreams  begun,  while  all  his  heavens  had  wept, — 
Upon  the  chill,  damp  ground,  through  all  the  dawn 
had  slept. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lxxviii-lxxxi. 

So  the  sun  withdrawn 

Climbs  up  to  a  dawn. 

When,  just  before  it,  the  night  gives  way 

And  clouds  are  hanging  like  blossoms  of  light, 

Presaging  the  fruit  of  the  day. 

Idem:  Loving,  xii. 

DAY 

Sworn  to  ceaseless  constancy. 
Day  had  come,  his  fair  suite  with  him,  all  their  armor 

burnish'd  bright, 
Searching,  as  they  search  forever,  for  the  flying  forms 

of  night. 

All  the  van  of  early  sunbeams  shot  reflections  from  the 
hill.  Idem,  Dreaming,  xlii. 

Its  glancing  beams 

Assail'd  the  trees,  through  boughs  that  draped  the 
streams 


82  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Like  shot-rent  banners,  where  bright  shafts  of  day 
Clove  through  the  yielding  darkness  of  the  way. 

Idem,  Seeking,  xxii. 

DEAR,    MY,    ITS    MEANING 

When  a  man  says  "my  dear"  we  all  know  what 
it  means.  He  thinks  the  word  necessary.  He  is 
trying  to  balance  something  that  he  knows  to  be 
unkind  with  something — a  mere  phrase  in  this  case — 
that  he  thinks  may  seem  the  opposite. 

Where  Society  Leads,  u. 

DEATH 

In  death's  long  sle^ 
No  more  shall  weary  eyes  close  but  to  weep, 
Nor  thoughts  keep  mining  from  the  darkened  brain 
Fit  fuel  for  the  morrow's  burning  pain. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 

DEATH,  A  lover's 

When  I  am  gone — their  ghastly  deed  been  done — 

I  wish  you  to  recall  me  as  I  am, — 

One  fit  for  all  things  almost,  save  to  die, 

Each  factor,  organ,  limb  of  me  complete, 

And,  at  this  moment,  hot  against  the  fire 

Blazed  through  me  by  your  love-enkindled  eyes, 

No  sinew  but  is  trembling  with  the  draft 

Of  that  delicious  flame;  and  yet  none  too 

Not  strengthened  by  a  power  divine  like  that 

Propelling  all  creation, — I  am  god. 

Not  man.    Nay,  nay!     Remember  me  as  god. 

You  must  not  see  that  unveiled,  writhing  frame 

Weak,  color- void,  save  where  the  death-blood  dyes  it. 

Waloon,  you  must  not  be  there.    I  shall  writhe 

More  like  a  god  to  know  you  are  not  there. — ■  ■ 

But  go  you  where  we  met  first — in  the  woods — 

You  know  the  place — to  me  the  holiest  place 

My  life  has  ever  known !    Waloon,  go  there. 

Oh,  swear  to  me  you  will. — My  soul  will  swear 

To  meet  you. 

....  What? 

....  By  all  that  makes  me  god, 

In  form,  perchance,  in  spirit  certainly. — 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  83 

DEATH,   BETTER    THAN  LOVELESS   LIFE 

Far  better  than  bodies  that  rot  before 
The  breath  has  left  them,  and  hold  no  more, 
In  the  haunted  hell  that  is  glassed  by  their  eyes, 
A  charm  to  inspire,  a  thought  to  make  wise, — 
Far  better  than  these,  the  face  as  white 
As  ashes  where  dead  fires  drop  their  light; 
Far  better  the  eyes,  all  dim  and  dry, 
But  blind  as  one's  own  that  can  only  cry; 
Far  better  the  crape  and  the  veils  that  fall ; 
Far  better  the  Uving  room  turned  to  a  pall. 
All  these,  whatever  the  future  may  give, 
Have  proved  that  love  has  a  right  to  live. 

Love  and  Life,  xxxv. 

DEATH,  BEFORE  MAIMING 

Why 
Outlive  the  happy  moment  for  one's  death ! 
A  body  maimed  may  mold  a  spirit  maimed. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

Ope  wide  the  casket  that  the  world  has  bruised 
And  let  the  unbruised  soul  fly  out  of  it.         Idem. 

DECEIT 

At  times, 
Deceit  that  spices  daintily  with  doubt 
The  plain-served  truth  more  seasons  it  to  taste. 

Idem,  II. 

DECEIVED,  OWNING  ONESELF 

Wise  men  who  wish  to  guard  their  influence  are 
never  quick  to  own  themselves  deceived. 

The  Two  Paths,  11. 

DECEPTION  {see  CONCEALMENT,  LIES,  and  TRUTH) 

When  comes  a  loss  of  fortune,  honor,  sway. 
When  threatens  death  that  hope  alone  can  stay. 
When  senile  states  presume  they  still  have  youth, — 
Oh,  what  could  curse  men  worse  than  words  of  truth? 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 

Would  you  deceive  them? 
....  What  men  have  no  right 
To  know,  one  has  no  right  to  let  them  know. 

Dante,  I.,  I. 


84  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Social  despotism  is  the  mother  of  deception. 

The  Snoh  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  I. 

DECEPTION  THROUGH  PERSONALITY 

....  Deception !    Men  deceive  as  much  as  women. 

....  Oh,  no,  no;  not  that  way!  They  lie,  they 
bribe,  they  use  brute  force;  but  never  think  of  baiting 
their  hooks  with  their  own  personaHty;  suggest — as 
that  man  thinks  all  women  do — that  he  is  master  of 
their  thought  and  feeling.  We  might  excuse  re- 
formers their  attempt  to  level  woman  to  the  plane 
of  man,  did  this  not  carry  with  it,  too,  the  risk  of 
sinking  her  to  something  lower. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ii. 

DECORATION,  A  FOREIGN 

A  foreign  decoration  on  a  man's  breast  has  the  same 
effect  upon  some  people  as  a  disk  made  to  glitter  by  a 
hypnotizer.  Where  Society  Leads,  I. 

DECORATION  DAY 

With  every  Spring-time  to  that  region  comes 

A  day  when  all  the  people,  far  and  near, 

Recall  the  warfare  waged  in  former  years 

That  from  disruption  saved  their  native  land, 

Set  free  the  bondman,  and  made  liberty, 

Throughout    their    country's    length    and    breadth, 

supreme. 
And  ere  that  day  comes,  through  the  week  before, 
The  wives  whose  husbands  fell  in  that  sad  war, 
The  friends  and  sweethearts  brooding  o'er  a  loss 
That  oft  is  deepest  when  't  is  least  express'd, 
The  mothers  mourning  sons,  and  boys  and  girls, 
Who  think  of  their  dead  fathers  as  of  forms 
That  fill'd  the  twilight  of  their  childhood's  dreams, 
Are  forming  wreaths  of  all  the  greenest  leaves, — 
Of  myrtle,  ivy,  arbor-vitee,  join'd 
With  all  the  fairest  flowers  the  season  yields. 
The  garden's  tulip,  pansy,  peony. 
Magnolia,  honeysuckle,  bleeding-heart, 
Phlox,  lilac,  snowball,  and  wisteria. 
The  forest's  bursting  glories,  chief  and  first 
The  dogwood,  rill'd  like  mimic  drifts  of  snow, 
The  blue-flag,  waving  welcomes  from  the  marsh, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  85 

The  lily  of  the  pond  and  of  the  vale, 
The  daisy,  violet,  and  buttercup, 
The  elder-berry  and  the  bridle  wreath. 
From  garden,  grove  or  roadside — all  are  cull'd 
And  weaved  in  wreaths  to  deck  the  soldiers'  graves. 
At  noon  the  church-bell  rings,  the  organ  peals. 
The  hymns  and  prayers  ascend,  the  orator 
Recalls  once  more  the  virtues  of  the  past. 
The  privilege  of  the  present ;  then  the  throng 
Move  slowly  toward  the  place  where  sleep  the  dead, 
And,  bending  o'er  the  graves  of  loved  ones  lost. 
And  o'er  the  graves  of  strangers  who  no  more 
Have  friends  they  loved  on  earth  to  care  for  them, 
Kind  forms  lay  one  by  one  their  tributes  down. 
No  soldier's  tomb  is  pass'd  and  not  enwreath'd 
With  flowers  that  rest  there  like  embodiments 
Of  fragrant  hopes  and  beautiful  desires, 
And  make  the  grave  no  type  of  death's  dark  night, 
But  of  the  rosy  dawn  of  life  beyond. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Finale. 
DEEDS  {see  work) 

DEEDS    OF    MAN    ARE    NATURE'S    FLOWERING 

He  must  have  felt  that  earth's  unconscious  growth 

Could  flower  alone  in  conscious  deeds  of  man. 
And  where  man  wrought  with  nature,   there  that 
both 
Were  working  to  fulfill  a  God-formed  plan. 

The  American  Pioneer. 

DEEDS  REVEALERS  OF  CHARACTER  {see  WORDS) 

Oh,  not  what  life  appears  to  be. 

Is  what  in  life  is  true. 
Inveiled  behind  the  forms  we  see 

Are  things  we  cannot  view. 
What  but  the  spirit  working  through 
The  guise  men  wear  to  what  they  do 
Reveals  the  force  that,  foul  or  fair. 
Awakes  and  makes  the  nature  there? 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  2. 

DEEDS,  TRUE,  TESTS  OF  TRUE  LIFE 

The  words  of  men  whose  deeds  have  proved  them  true 
Are  also  true.  Cecil  the  Seer,  in.,  2. 


86  A  POETS  CABINET 

DEEDS   VS.   WHIMS 

The  world  is  full  of  brains,  and  all  the  brains 
Of  whims,  and  all  that  gives  the  whims  more  worth 
Than  blood  that  churns  them  up  to  consciousness, 
Is  that  they  leave  the  brain  and  live  in  deeds. 

Columbus,  II.,  I. 

DEFERENCE  TO  THOSE  WELL  KNOWN 

A  man  is  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own  house- 
hold— for  the  same  reason,  I  suppose,  that  most  of  our 
women  prefer  French  frocks  and  phrases  to  homespun 
and  Saxon;  or  that,  in  the  street,  most  of  our  men, 
when  courting  a  woman,  take  off  their  hat  to  her;  but, 
when  married  to  her,  keep  it  on.  Those  who  are  near 
to  us  may  be  very  dear,  but  often  we  fail  to  fear  them 
enough  to  be  awed  into  even  decent  deference. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  ii. 

DEFINED 

The  finite  only  can  be  well  defined. 

Haydn,  xxi. 

DEFINITION 

A  definition  is  of  value  in  the  degree  in  which  it 
accords  with  the  undefined  conceptions  that  are  in 
the  minds  of  the  largest  number  of  thinkers  upon  the 
subject.  Art  in  Theory,  xv. 

DELIRIUM   TREMENS 

....  Ever  try  to  sit  up  for  a  night  with  one  who 
had  delirium  tremens? 

....  No. 

....  You  never  got  as  near  to  hell  as  I,  then. 

....  Yes,  a  drunkard  can  make  the  very  devil  of 
a  bed  mate.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ii. 

DELUSION 

Alas,  must  I  ever  wandering  go 

Where  shadows  and  echoes  delude  me  so? 

How  can  one  live  a  life  ideal 

Who  fears  that  love  can  never  be  real? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxix. 
O  eyes  that  had  watch'd  for  the  form  of  delight, 
O  ears  that  had  listen'd  the  long,  long  night, 
O  hands  that  had  touch'd  what  dropp'd  from  you  dead. 
No  looming  delusion  your  faith  had  misled. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  87 

Nay,  brighter  than  suns,  love's  own  true  beams 

Are  burning  through  mists  that  obscured  them  in 

dreams. 
No  cheeks  of  a  phantom  had  e'er  such  a  glow; 
No  eyes  of  a  phantom  such  trust  could  show. 
Come  hither ;  lay  hold  of  my  spirit,  O  love, 
That  flutters  its  wings  like  a  captive-dove. 
Sweet  pain,  to  be  pierc'd  by  the  shaft  of  thine  eye! 
Sweet  prison,  in  thy  warm  clasp  to  lie !        Idem,  xli. 

DEMEANING     ONESELF 

To  demean  oneself  is  to  be  mean  to  oneself ;  and  he 
that  is  mean  to  himself  will  seldom  be  not  mean  to 
any  man.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

DEPTHS 

Though  dense  the  depths  around, 
No  high-aimed  spirit  to  them  is  bound; 
No  heaven-aimed  spirit  abides  in  a  grave; 
But  surely  as  air  when  plunged  in  a  wave, 
Whatever  may  try  to  hinder  or  stop. 
There  comes  a  time  when  it  comes  to  the  top. 

The  Last  Home  Gathering. 

DESCENT 

The  man  who  boasts  a  family  tree, 

And  great  grandpas  that  came  and  went, 
Which  proves  to  all,  the  more  they  see. 
How  great  has  been  his  own  descent; 
And  who  from  self-made  people  shrinks 
That  now  do  what  his  grandpas  did, 
Lest  other  men  may  see  the  links 

That  bind  to  what  he  wishes  hid, — 
Is  just  the  thing  he  thinks. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  11. 
DESIRE  {see  AMBITION  and  aspiration) 
With  no  teacher  but  desire 
In  these  hours  of  stolen  study,  snatch'd  from  toil  in 
sweat  and  mire.      A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  vi. 

DESPONDENCY 

Where  is  hell?    Ah  me,  there  is  life  on  earth 
Torn  away  from  all  it  is  worth. 
Things  are  severed  by  nature  allied: 
Wish  and  all  of  its  wants  divide. 


88  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Who  but  the  lovinty  are  dupes  of  hate? 
Who  but  the  faithful  are  foiled  by  fate? 
Who  but  the  seekers  of  truth  can  find 
Half  of  the  falsehood  framed  for  the  mind? 
Who  but  those  with  ideals  fair 
Deal  with  a  real  life  hard  to  bear? 
True  to  an  instinct  cheating  all  trust, 
Flapping  white  wings  that  raise  but  the  dust, 
Stuck  like  stones  in  the  mire  of  the  earth, 
What  for  our  souls  are  the  bright  stars  worth ! 

Love  and  Life,  xxiv. 

DESTINY 

....  One's  destiny,  you  think,  is  made  by  talk? 
....  One's  destiny  was  never  yet  fulfilled 
By  one  whose  coward  conscience  dared  not  give 
Expression  to  the  spirit  that  inspired  it. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  WORLD,  IN  SCANDINAVIAN  MYTH 

But  while  I  gazed  upon  that  scene,  behold, 

A  storm  arose.    Its  thunders,  while  they  roll'd, 

Woke  Heimdall,  who,  anon,  on  Gulltopp  rode 

Like  lightning  to  Valhalla,  the  abode 

Of  mighty  Odin.    Then  each  hill  and  plain 

Seem'd  filled  with  gods,  who  moved  with  signs  of  pain. 

Here  Tyr  uplifts,  like  some  vast  mountain-side, 

His  heaven-high  shield  that  shakes  with  wounded  pride. 

There  Ullur  aims  his  bow  to  test  his  art. 

And  meteors  through  remotest  regions  dart. 

Now  Braji  leaves  his  wife,  Iduna  fair. 

For  Forseti ;  and  toward  them  in  despair 

Comes  Freyja  with  her  plaintful  team  of  gray, 

And  Vidar,  Vali,  Njord,  all  join  the  fray, 

While  through  the  north,  like  an  Aurora,  gleam 

The  spears  of  Skadi's  troops  that  nearer  stream. 

Far  up  in  Hlidskjalf,  towering  o'er  the  crowds. 

Like  some  fair  morning  sunburst  o'er  the  clouds. 

Bright  Odin  stands,  and  prompt  at  his  command 

Convulsions  dash  the  sea  and  shake  the  land, 

Where  comes  great  Thor,  whose  chariot  sweeps  the  sky 

On  wheels  of  fire  far  flashing  as  they  fly. 

Eclipsing  all  those  rival  hosts  of  light 

As  thunder-storms  blot  out  the  stars  of  night. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  89 

But  what  had  roused  the  gods? — I  gazed  below, 

And  there  beheld  a  mighty  waste  of  woe. — 

The  serpent,  Nidhogg,  with  new  malice  lash'd 

The  sea  surrounding  all  things,  till  it  dash'd 

O'er  all  the  shores.    The  great  tree's  giant  form, 

Amid  the  waves  and  winds  of  that  wild  storm, 

Sway'd  to  and  fro,  till  with  a  mighty  crash 

Its  trunk  was  rent,  the  while  a  blinding  flash 

Of  lightning  tore  apart  the  upper  sky. 

And  fired  the  great  tree's  limbs  that  hung  on  high, 

As  if  an  orb  of  flame,  or  comet  whirl'd 

Against  what  might  become  a  bursting  world, 

Tho'  yet  the  crash  came  not.    Its  flashing  drew 

Fire-genii  from  the  depths  who  fiercely  flew 

To  tear  the  bifrost  down.    More  dread  than  these, 

Huge  giants  weeding  up  the  shaken  trees. 

And  rending  from  the  earth  the  crumbling  cliffs. 

Press  toward  the  gods,  who  through  the  smoke  that  lifts, 

Advance  their  blazing  lines !    Of  no  avail 

Is  now  their  show  of  strength !    For  once  they  fail ; 

For  once  can  force  more  dread  than  gods'  assault; 

And,  almost  ere  they  charge,  the  columns  halt; 

Then  back  through  many  a  lengthening  league  they  roll ; 

Then,  wheeling  bend  their  rivals  like  a  scroll. 

Borne  back  again,  for  one  more  charge  they  form, 

As  terrible  as  every  earthly  storm 

Concenter'd  into  one.    On,  on  they  bound. 

And  meet — O  soul,  to  have  outlived  that  sound! — 

Nor  heaven  nor  hell  could  stand  so  fierce  a  shock; 

But  all  things, — god  and  giant,  star  and  rock, 

And  sky  and  earth,  with  bursting  fires  were  hurl'd 

Like  lava  through  the  air!  then  all  the  world 

Seem'd  smoke,  so  dense  I  felt  it  on  me  press. 

Then  still  was  all,  and  all  was  nothingness. 

A  Life  in  Song :  Seeking,  xxxiii.,  xxxiv. 

DETAILS 

Requesting  all  details. 
It  took  me  weeks  to  draft  them,  had  to  turn 
My  methods  upside  down  and  inside  out. 
And  mass  and  multiply  and  magnify. 
Till  truth  was  large  enough  for  all  to  see  it. 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 


90  A  POET'S  CABINET 

DETECTIVE  WORK,  AND  TEACHING 

....  You  like  your  occupation,  do  you? 

....  Quite  late — your  asking  that  of  me! — when 
I  have  taught  for  twenty  years. 

....  Is  that  detective  work? 

....  Much  like  it.  A  teacher  must  detect,  at 
least,  a  place  inside  the  brain  where  thought,  when 
planted,  will  be  apt  to  grow.  He  usually  finds  the 
place  just  where  some  mischief  has  been  weeded  out. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  i. 

DEVICE  (see  tact) 
While  earth  keeps  training  men  to  use  device, 

The  souls  too  proud  to  use  it  or  too  pure, 
Are  sure  to  rouse  at  last  from  lips  precise 

The  chidings  of  some  wrong-reform'd  ill-doer, 
Whose  former  vice  has  foul'd  the  soul's  emotion, 

Who  deems  a  sight  of  naked  spirit  sin. 
And  all  love  haunted  by  some  carnal  notion. 

And  so  keeps  out  the  Christ  to  keep  the  devil  in. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  vi. 

DEVIL 

We  all  of  us  were  loving,  were  we  not  ? 

Yet  working  outward,  wisely,  as  we  deem'd, 

We  all  have  done  the  thing  to  doom  us  all. 

Alas  what  power  has  wrought  to  thwart  us  thus? 

I  do  believe,  though  long  I  doubted  it, 

There  lives  a  Devil !     Hell-scorch'd  hands  alone 

Could  weave  such  death-black  shrouds  from  thread  so 

bright. 
Drawn    from   sleek   skeins    of    love.      That    spider- 
fiend. 
Feeding  on  our  sweet  plans,  emits  this  web, 
To  trip  and  trap  us  in  like  flies ! — Ah  me, 
It  may  be  well  that  one  should  suffer  here 
Until  a  wish  bereaved  shriek  prayers  for  death ; 
But  through  what  fearful  pangs  earth  peels  away 
This  withering  flesh  from  off  the  worthier  soul ! 
What  further  shred  invests  the  love  so  stript ! — 
Is  this,  then,  being  freed  from  earth? — Yet  where 
Are  signs  of  heaven? — My  God,  I  see  them  not. 

Haydn,  XLVII. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  91 

DEVIL,  WHEN  HE  DRIVES 

The  Prince  of  this  Worid  is  not  nice  in  choice 
Of  equipages ;  where  he  cannot  check, 
He  mounts  the  car  of  truth  and  grasps  the  rein ; 
And  when  the  Devil  drives,  he  drives  for  home. 

Idem,  LI. 

DEVILISH 

....  The  devil! 

....  She  reminds  you  of  him,  eh? 
....  All  pretty  things  do. 

....  What  a  world  to  live  in ! — where  all  the  pretty 
things  are  devilish  pretty. 

....  And  pretty  devilish.      On  Detective  Duty,  11. 

DEVOTION  TO  IDEALS   {seC  IDEALs) 

....  Yes,  yes,  but  yet  can  it  be  worth  the  price? 

....  I  know  your  meaning, — loss  of  life,  perhaps, 
And  all  for  which  some  prize  life, — ease  and  love. 
But, — ah,  who  would  not  feel  it  is  worth  this? — 
And  others  go  with  me  who  think  the  same. 

....  Some  call  them  fools 

....  They  are  fools,  if  this  life  be  all; 
And  fools,  if  they  but  claim  that  it  is  all. 
For,  risking  dangers  thick  as  mid-sea-mists 
In  war,  in  wave,  men's  deeds  outdo  their  words 
And  prove  they  serve  a  grander  sovereignty, 
Whose  realms  outreach  all  death-lines. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 

DICTATOR,  THE  RIGHT  OF  THE 

Think  you  God  gives  to  strength  of  will  the  right 
To  say  what  is  right?    And  if  not,  what  then? 
If  one  obey  then,  how  can  he  be  sure 
That  he  obeys  not  sin?  Haydn,  xxvi. 

DIPLOMATS  AND  FOREIGN  MANNERS 

....  Do  foreigners  determine  our  diplomatic 
appointments? 

....  Those  are  most  apt  to  get  them  who  show 
that  they  know  how  to  adapt  themselves  to  foreign 
requirements. 

....  I  suppose  a  man  then  is  to  fit  himself  to 
represent  America  abroad  by  showing  how  un-Ameri- 
can he  can  be  at  home. 


92  A  POET'S  CABINET 

....  You  know — you  have  seen  our  foreign  rep- 
resentatives. 

....  Yes.  I  congratulate  you  upon  the  logical 
workings  of  your  mind.         Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

DISAPPOINTMENT 

If  blind  men  all  were  born  blind,  none 

Were  cursed  by  losing  sight.    In  nights  like  this, 

Not  unawakened  hope  I  dread,  as  much 

As  wakening  disappointment.      Columbus,  iii.,  2. 

DISCERNING 

The  sky  contains  full  half  I  see. 

In  soil  below  I  live,  I  love. 

High  in  the  half  that  looms  above, 
Oh,  is  there  nothing  there  for  me? 

The  sky's  bright  sun  and  stars  I  see 
The  soil  below  is  guised  in  green 
In  heaven  whose  orbs  are  robed  in  sheen. 

Oh,  is  there  nothing  there  for  me? 

In  thoughts  within,  sweet  rest  I  see; 
In  things  without,  but  dust  and  toil. 
Where  hang  no  veils  of  flesh  and  soil, 
Oh,  is  there  nothing  there  for  me?       Dante,  11.,  2 
DISCIPLINE  (see  pain) 
Oh,  what  is  the  meaning  of  life  like  yours? 
Does  heaven  mistake  the  traits  that  it  cures? 
Or  must  the  mood  of  a  soul  when  trained 
Be  gauged  by  the  discipline  each  has  gained? 
And  is  discipline  never  in  reach  of  those 
Whose  natures  have  never  been  crushed  by  woes? 
Do  the  cheeriest  need  the  weariest  strife. 
Ere  broken  to  bear  what  blesses  our  life? 
Is  the  test  of  true  metal  the  blow  and  the  scrape 
And  the  time  that  it  takes  to  bend  it  in  shape? 
If  so,  perhaps,  it  is  well  that  the  best 
Are  those  to  whom  earth  brings  the  least  of  rest. 
The  Last  Home  Gathering. 

The  pest  of  tutors,  but  the  students'  pet, 
Who  gain'd  more  discipline  than  all  the  school 
Through  working  hard  to  break  through  every  rule. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  L. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  93 

DISCONTENT 

We  are  not  always  curst,  when  bom 
By  throes  of  nature's  freak  or  scorn 
With  moods  abnormal  and  forlorn; 
We  are  not  curst  ere  we  consent 
To  dam  our  own  development 
By  choking  down  our  discontent. 
If  truth  be  something  sought  and  learn'd, 
He  most  may  gain,  who  most  has  yearn'd 
To  fill  a  need  he  most  discern' d. 

Idem:  Doubting,  xviii. 

....  If  none  would  feel,  none  would  have  discontent; 
And  that  would  cure  all  evils  of  the  time. 

....  Yes,  that  is  true.     Why,  even  small  boys  now. 
Must  have  small  beer 

....  For  that  will  pop,  you  know! 

Will  make  a  noise!  explode  monotony! 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

DISEASE 

Disease  that  roam'd  for  prey 
First  made  his  pulse  flee  fever'd  from  the  shroud, 
Then  clutch'd  and  check'd  and  chill'd  it,  where  he  lay. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxii. 

DISESTEEM 

....  It  never  is  one's  duty  to  do  what  can  justly 
earn  the  disesteem  of  others. 

....  Those  never  justly  earn  men's  disesteem  who 
have  not  first  earned  that  of  their  own  conscience. 

The  Two  Paths,  11. 

DISHONESTY 

I  have  found  dishonesty  a  species  of  decay  that 
grows  more  rank  the  longer  it  keeps  hidden. 

The  Two  Paths,  11. 

DIVINE  GUIDANCE 

O  Life  divine,  what  soul  succeeds 

In  aught  on  earth  but  he 
Who  moves  as  all  desires  and  deeds 
Are  lured  and  led  by  thee ! 

Columbus,  I. 
DIVORCE  {see  honor) 
You  deem  it  wise  or  good,  humane  or  Godly, 


94  A  POETS  CABINET 

To  doom  a  boy  for  one  mistake  in  mating 
To  everlasting  punishment  on  earth? 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

....  Why  not  assert  yourself  with  her  to-day? 

....  You  ask  her,  she  will  tell  you  that  I  dare  not. 

....  But  that  would  not  be  true. 

....  I  think  it  would,  although  my  reasons  for  it 
might  not  be  what  she  would  think  or  understand,  if 
told. 

....  And  what  are  they? 

....  What  she  might  do,  in  case  I  angered  her, — 
the  accompaniments  of  divorce — for  Florence  and  the 
whole  community.  A  man  should  suffer  rather  than 
relieve  a  sore,  if  doing  it  might  spread  contagion. 
Besides,  it  was  not  she  proposed  our  marriage,  but  I 
myself;  and  every  man  should  bear  the  burden  of  his 
own  mistakes.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  iii. 

DOCTORS 

Large  practice  that  doctor  of  hers  has! 

Yes,  all  the  society  ladies  go  to  him. 

All  of  them? 

Most  of  them. 

Humph! — is  an  expert  in  cramps,  I  sup- 
pose, which  in  women  seem  to  be  attributable  about 
equally  to  what  is  put  over  the  waist  and  feet,  and 
to  what  is  not  put  over  the  spine  and  shoulders. 
In  the  olden  time,  when  a  man  married,  he  had 
to  have  a  doctor  of  divinity  around;  now  it  seems 
to  be  a  doctor  of  medicine.  In  a  little  while,  as 
divorces  multiply,  I  suppose  it  will  be  a  doctor  of 
laws. 

....  No  other  doctors? 

....  Oh,  yes;  when  the  end  of  our  civilization 
comes,  as  it  may,  after  a  little,  its  story  will  have  to  be 
written.    Then  we  shall  need  a  doctor  of  literature. 

Where  Society  Leads,  ill. 

DOG 

A  dog  or  woman  cringing  to  a  man. 
Because  of  kicks  or  curses?     Haydn,  xxv. 

DONKEY,  DEMOCRATIC 

What  an  advertisement  it  is  for  one  in  public  lif 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  95 

to  prove  both  prominent  and  picturesque — to  draw 
the  world's  attention  in  such  an  interesting  way! 
You  know  some  folks  dislike  the  democratic  donkey. 
But  when  an  artist  mounts  the  candidates  upon  its 
back  that  sets  them  off! 

....  Becomes  what  one  might  term  the  office- 
seeker's  a^^ei.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 

DOUBT,  DOUBTING,  and  DOUBTS  {see  faith) 

And  thus  they  talk'd, 
Till,  welcoming  doubt,  my  faith  succumb'd  to  it; 
And  all  the  love  once  making  me  so  proud. 
Whose  growth,  I  thought,  would  be  so  sweet  and  fair, 
Stung  like  a  very  thistle  in  my  soul ; 
Each  breath  of  theirs  would  blow  its  prickles  keen, 
And  sow  its  pestering  seedlets  far  and  wide 
O'er  every  pleasing  prospect  of  my  life. 

Idem,  XXX. 

Doubt  on  empty  nest  sits  brooding  o'er  the  things 
that  have  been  done. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xvi. 

Introducing    dusk    to    darkness,    dodging    doubt    to 
crawling  night.  Idem,  Dreaming,  xxxv. 

....  Had  you  a  glimpse  of  God  like  no  one  else's 
You  would  not  speak  of  it? 

....  Why   not? 

....  It    might 

Subject  Him  to  the  insult — might  it  not? — 
Of  human  doubt? 

....  You  are  a  strange  soul. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

At  last,  he  learn'd 
How  faith  reacts  on  doubt ;  if  truth  be  sought, 
How  most  for  those  who  most  have  ask'd  and  yearn'd 
Ring  echoes  from  the  boundary  walls  of  thought. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lix. 

The  world  keeps  rolling  on  from  day  to  night. 
None  always  dwell  where  always  glows  the  light 
When  darkness  comes,  and  doubt  assails  the  mind, 
Then  light  and  faith  come  following  swift  behind. 

Dante,  11.,  2. 


96  A  POETS  CABINET 

Strangely  led, 
Through  doubtful  ways,  he  thought,  toward  doubtful 

ends. 
Till  doubts  had  wrought  reaction, — as  when  clouds 
That  course  on  clouds,  at  last,  bring  lightnings  forth 
That  clear  them  off.  Ideals  Made  Real,  lxviii. 

Yet  all  whose  learning  brings  them  fame  to  last 
Begin  by  doubting  what  earth  claims  it  knows. 
Why  should  not  their  true  follower  do  the  same? 
Think  not  the  present  can  but  phase  the  past. 
The  fire  whose  dying  brand  so  steadfast  glows 
Once  proved  its  life  through  flickerings  of  its  flame. 

Princeton  Cemetery. 
He  lets  his  own  thought  lead  him ;  and  you  know 
Men  led  by  thought  are  often  led  to  doubt. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 
And  doubt  rose  round  his  growing  powers  of  thought, 
Like  vapors  reeking  from  the  refuse  heap'd 
On  undevelop'd  germs  in  early  June. 
Perchance  his  manhood's  fruit  was  ripening  then. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  in. 
Where  springs  from  will 
One  wise  effect  that  does  not  follow  doubt? 
One  choice  that  does  not  weigh  alternatives? 
Doubt  comes  with  waverings  of  the  balances 
Before  the  heavier  motive  settles  down. 
Let  those  who  feel  so  sure  their  views  are  right, 
Dissolve  my  doubt: — I  dare  to  doubt  if  the}'' 
Walk  not  by  knowledge  rather  than  by  faith. 

Haydn,  xliii. 
Believe  me,  there  is  faith  so  full  and  deep 
That  all  the  surface-doubts  that  o'er  it  sweep 
Are  fog-banks  to  its  ocean, — fill  the  skies 
Amid  inactive  hours,  but  shift  and  rise 
With  each  new  change  that  brings  a  sun  or  storm. 
Our  mortal  doubts  are  conjured  up  by  form, 
Not  substance,  when  weak  insight  fails  to  reach 
Beneath  the  vapory  whiffs  of  human  speech. 
They  come  to  him  whose  wars  are  waged  at  words, 
A  knight,  who  at  some  whirring  windmill  girds 
To  wound  the  wind  that  whirls  it,  nor  will  know 


How,  all  its  chairs  made  vacant  one  by  one 
ih  applause  rose  thinner  at  his  bachelor  club. 

See  page  iy6. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  97 

That,  back  of  all  this  realm  of  sound  and  show, 
A  subtle,  unseen  spirit  works,  which  all 
Material  means  are  far  too  weak  and  small 
To  hold  or  image;  that  the  spirit's  life 
Has  power  within  it  to  survive  all  strife 
Of  forms,  at  best,  but  fashion'd  from  the  dust, 
Whose  changing  creeds  are  not  men's  constant  trust. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xxiv. 
I  read  that  Jesus  answer'd  him  who  pray'd, 
"Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief"; 
That  on  the  cross  itself  even  He  could  cry: 
"My  God,  O  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 
And  so  I  think,  at  times,  these  doubts  of  ours 
May  only  rise  like  minor  preludes  here. 
Ere  that  triumphant  cadence,  "It  is  finished." 

Haydn,  xliii. 
....  The  next  time  that  men  watch  me,  they 
shall  think  so. 
....  And  why? 

....  No  doubt,  no  thought !    What  men  conceive 
They  comprehend,  they  cease  to  guess  about. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 
To  doubt  is  charity,  where  to  believe 
Is  to  condemn.  Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

To  be  true 
To  life,  when  all  the  men  that  have  life  doubt  me 
I  ought  to  join  with  them,  and  doubt  myself. 

Columbus,  v.,  2. 

DREAM 

Such  a  sight  has  oft  allured  me,  rous'd  by  morn's  first 

herald-gleam, 
Floating  up  the  edge  of  slumber  in  a  just  awaking 

dream. 
Angel  forms,  no  man  could  number,  circled  in  a  band 

of  light 
Round  a  chariot  framed  of  splendor,  drawn  by  steeds 

of  dazzling  white. 
Softly  sped  they  o'er  the  vapors;  and,  with  wings  of 

texture  rare, 
Woke  low  throbs  of  murmuring  music,  as  they  lightly 

struck  the  air. 


98  A  POET'S  CABINET 

And  the  chariot  bore  a  Being  with  a  smile  so  sweetly 

bright, 
One  could  better  paint,  than  it,  the  fragrance  of  that 

summer  night. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xii. 

DREAMING 

A  blockhead  may  take  pride 
In  never  dreaming.     Blocks  are  n't  made  for  it, — 

Live  not  in  clouds.    Yet  clouds  not  often  glide 
O'er  barren  soil;  nor  rich  dreams  often  flit 
O  'er  minds  too  poor  to  yield  the  deed  such  dreams  will  fit. 

Idem,  Daring,  lxvi. 
Think  you  't  is  by  the  sword 
That  one  can  set  a  soul,  while  living,  free? 
Ah,  not  by  deeds  but  dreaming  does  the  spirit, 
Itself  uplifted,  lift  up  those  about  it. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

DREAMING  MAN 

A  dreaming  man  is  not  a  dangerous  foe; 
For  dreams  portend  their  opposites.    Just  when 
He  wings  his  whims  to  heaven,  he  wakes  in  hell. 

Idem. 

DREAMLAND 

My  friend,  thus  widow'd,  caused  that  our  school's 

head, 
Already  nodding  o'er  his  noonday  pipe. 
Should  beck  at  sever'd  dreams  with  one  nod  more, 
And  so  consent  to  our  dreams. 

Room-mates  made, 
We  slamm'd  his  door  and  woke  him;  not  ourselves. 
Our  dreamland  lasted.  Ideals  Made  Real,  iii. 

But  beneath  its  boughs  a  dreamland,  like  a  labyrinth, 

unwove. 
There  were  paths  like  those  of  Eden.     There  were 

mountains  high  and  grand. 
Hung  to  wild,  fantastic  fortunes  o'er  a  dizzy  dearth 

of  land. 
There  were  lakes  all  diamond-dappled;  there  were 

streams  that  rushed  at  meres 
Arch'd  by  bridges,  rainbow-girdled,  where  the  high 

spray  leapt  their  piers. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  99 

There  were  flowers  that  flush'd  through  vistas,  where 

alternate  floods  of  sheen, 
Rich  as  tides  of  amber,  flow'd  through  shaded  banks 

of  evergreen. 
There  were  trees  whose  broad,  high  branches  cradled 

all  the  stars  o'erhead. 
There  were  lawns  whose  tender  grasses  could  not  stand 

a  fairy's  tread. 
Orchards,  gardens,  halls,  and  temples  fill'd  the  fields; 

and  in  them  seem'd 
Every  creature,  of  which  fancy,  past  or  present,  e'er 

had  dream'd, — 
Birds  and  beasts  of  all  conditions,  dancing,  dozing, 

forward,  shy, 
Strown,  as  if  on  isles  that  throng'd  an  endless  ocean  in 

the  sky.  A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xvii. 

DREAMS 

Felt  as  one  when  streams 
Upon  his  waking  eyes  the  morning  light 
That  swings  the  golden  goal-gates  of  his  dreams. 

Idem,  Daring,  XLix. 

DRES3  {see  clothes) 
In  my  visits  to  the  city,  the  one  thing  that  I  like 
the  most  to  see  is  just  the  way  you  city  women  dress. 
How  do  you  do  it?  Take  your  own  gown  now — the 
way  your  skirts  hang — just  enough  above  your  feet 
to  make  these  play  at  hide  and  seek,  and  never  let  the 
glance  that  spies  them  catch  them.  You  know  that 
nothing  so  enchains  attention  as  play  too  deft  to  lend 
itself  to  prey.  The  Two  Paths,  11. 

....  You  and  sister  seem  to  think  that  you  must 
have  a  new  and  different  hat  and  gown  about  every 
time  that  you  step  out  of  the  front  door. 

....  You  wouldn't  have  us  going  around  so 
people  could  recognize  us  a  block  away,  as  they  do  a 
yellow  dog — by  the  colors  we  always  wear? 

....  Well,  if  your  set  keeps  on  you'll  have  to  go 
around  that  way  before  long.  All  the  beasts  and  birds 
of  the  world  will  have  been  butchered.  None  of  their 
furs  and  feathers  will  be  left. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  in. 


100  A  POETS  CABINET 

DRESS,     CONCEALMENTS    OF 

Did  you  see  their  little  sister  Mamie's  feet  and  under- 
pinnings? By  Jove!  it  was  worth  the  whole  show  just 
to  get  a  sight  of  them!  What's  the  use,  confound  it! 
of  all  the  grown  ones'  wearing  those  flapping,  trailing 
dresses?  One  wouldn't  know  that  they  had  any  feet 
if  he  couldn't  judge  of  them — as  we  have  to  do  of  all  of 
them — by  their  younger  sisters.  In  a  perfect  state 
now " 

"Well,  well,  but  we're  not  in  a  perfect  state,  you 
know." 

"I  think  I  do — yes,  yes,"  said  the  captain;  "but 
that's  no  reason — is  it? — for  rendering  half  our 
race  —  and  the  prettier  half,  at  that  —  but  little 
better  than  deformed?  I  only  meant  to  say  that, 
with  society  in  a  perfect  state,  the  dress  would 
show  off  natural  charms,  you  know,  whatever  they 
might  be." 

"Ah!  j'-es,  but,  you  see,  the  majority  of  mortals 
haven't  natural  charms;  and,  as  the  majority  rule,  of 
course  they're  bound  to  keep  their  neighbors  covered 
up;  so  general  ugliness  shall  lose  as  little  as  possible 
from  contrast  with  exceptional  beauty." 

"Exceptional  beauty!  Humph!  Don't  lose  your 
faith;  hold  on  to  a  God  of  general  goodness,  and 
only  issue  bans  against  the  exceptional  ugliness  of 
those  who  make  the  fashions. 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  iii. 

DRESS,   OF  WOMAN  ON  A  MAN 

There's  one  thing,  bo3'-s,  I've  found  that  no  man 
ever  can  do;  and  that  is — outstrip  a  woman  in  her 
dressing.  .  .  .  Not  so  anxious,  perhaps,  to  be  an  angel, 
and  put  on  airs,  when  these  drafts  that  we  feel  on 
earth  have  drafted  us  up  to  heaven.  No  wonder,  the 
women  surpass  us  in  not  getting  hard  or  tipsy.  Truth 
is  they  are  tough  by  nature,  and  get  tight  in  ways  and 
stays — I  wonder  if  squeezing  the  blood  keeps  it  warm. 
That  might  explain  why  their  arms  and  necks  never 
freeze.  I  feel  like  a  turkey-gobbler  hung  up  in  front 
of  a  shop,  with  neck  and  wings  and  legs  all  plucked, 
and  what  feathers  are  left,  bunched  up  in  a  tuft  at  the 
middle.  The  Ranch  Girl,  iii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  lOl 

DRINKING 
....  Clear  champagne,  not  so? 
....  One  must  drink  something  on  a  hot  night 
like  this. 

....  But  you  can't  get  away  from  a  hot  time 
outside  by  getting  up  a  hot  time  inside. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

DRINKING  {see  smoking) 
....  You  men  seem  always  very  thirsty. 
....  A  business  man,  when  not  at  work,  feels  like 
a  fish  when  out  of  water,  so  he  soaks. 

....  And  if  his  palate  be  not  dry  enough  to 
take  in  all  that  flows  his  way,  he  starts  a  fire  to  do 
the  work.     {Lighting  a  cigar.) 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ii. 

drone 
....  Oh,  drone, 

That  I  could  sting  you,  as  do  bees  their  drones. 
That  make  no  honey ! 
....  You  do  sting  at  times.       Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

DUPLEXITY 

Of  all  the  devils  that  ever  have  curst 
This  earth  of  ours  I  deem  the  worst 

May  be  a  duplex  woman. 
Whose  airs  are  snares  that  none  suspect. 
And  are  spread  where  naught  can  souls  protect 

From  ruin  more  than  is  human; 

Whose  thoughts,  when  her  lover  is  craving  a  soul 
So  pure  he  can  yield  to  her  the  control 

Of  all  his  aims  and  actions. 
Are  weighing  the  worth  of  houses  and  rooms 
And  dresses  and  diamonds  and  horses  and  grooms 

For  which  to  sell  her  attractions. 

A  curse  to  her  spirit  that  makes  bright  eyes 
As  blind  as  an  owl's, — and  with  gaze  as  wise, — 

To  heaven's  light  sent  to  assist  them. 
A  curse  to  her  fangs  from  flesh  so  soft, 
And  her  serpent-like  grace,  far  crueller  oft 

Than  aught  ever  stung  to  resist  them. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxiv. 


I02  A  POETS  CABINET 

DUST,  OF  WHICH  MAN  IS  MADE 

Did  you  hear  her  comment  on  the  sunbeams — how 
they  show  the  dust?  She  is  a  young  philosopher. 
None  reaHze  the  dust  that  man  is  made  of  like  those 
that  watch  the  light  of  heaven  shine  through  it. 

On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

DUTY 

Oh,  in  worth  the  deeds  of  duty 
Rival  all  the  claims  of  beauty. 
Onward  world,  with  steadfast  spinning, 
Learn  to  turn  a  perfect  day. 
Work  cannot  go  wrong  for  aye. 
Woes  but  roll  to  roll  away. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  XLi. 

DUTY,  DEVOTION  TO,  PROTECTS  THE  AGENT 

No  mind  or  soul  was  ever  harmed  inside  because  of 
its  devotion  to  a  duty.  One  might  as  well  attempt  to 
harm  the  life  that  whirls  the  world,  and  all  the  stars 
about  it.  On  Detective  Duty,  I. 

DUTY,  GIVING  ONE  CHANCES 

....  I  did  but  do  my  duty. 

....  That  is  what 

But  very  few  do.     It  gave  you  your  chance. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

DUTY  vs.  EXPEDIENCY 

When  they  have  stripped  me  of  all  things  besides, 
I  shall  have  left  a  clean,  clear  conscience,  death 
And  heaven.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

DUTY  vs.  LOVE 

A  friend  most  pleases  when,  forgetting  due, 
He  seems  to  do  his  pleasure;  but  a  foe, — 
Who  does  not  shrink  to  feel  him  near  enough 
To  freeze  one  with  a  chill  though  duteous  touch? 
Mere  duty  forms  the  body-part  of  love: 
Let  love  be  present,  and  this  body  seems 
The  fitting  vestment  of  a  finer  life : 
Let  love  be  gone,  it  leaves  a  hideous  corpse! 

Haydn,  xvi. 

EARLY  INTEREST  IN  LIFE-WORK 

The  best  day-laborer  is  usually  one  who  wakes  up 
early  in  the  morning.    The  best  life-laborer  is  usually 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  103 

one  who  has  had  something  of  entertainment  and 
interest  to  wake  up  his  mind  early  in  life. 

Music  as  Related  to  Other  Arts. 

EARTHLY  LIFE,  AS  VIEWED  FROM  HEAVENLY 

I  dimly  can  recall  what  now  appears 

A  troubled,  stormy  sea,  yet  not  a  sea; 

And  in  the  depth  that  which  I  call  myself 

Seemed  held  and  heaved  as  in  some  diving  bell. 

But  evermore  in  reveries  and  dreams, 

But  most  in  dreams  when  outward  sense  would  sleep 

My  soul  would  be  released,  and  rise  and  reach 

Fresh  air,  in  which  was  breathed  what  gave  fresh  life ; 

Then,  sinking  downward,  wake  and  work  again, 

Till  time  for  rest  and  fresh  refreshment  came. 

But  never  could  my  powers  at  work  below 

Remember  aught  that  blest  them  when  above. 

....  And  now  you  dream  that  somehow  they  came 

here? 
....  Oh,  do  not  tell  me  that  I  now  but  dream! — 
Nay,  call  it  heaven. — Or  is  the  rest  of  sleep 
But  absence  from  the  body  while  we  draw 
New  drafts  of  life  from  that  whicn  gave  us  life? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

EARTHLY  LOVE  VS.  HEAVENLY 

How  safely  might  one  sail  the  sea  of  life 

If  all  his  reckonings  were  but  true  to  heaven! 

Ah,  siren-like,  a  rivalling  earthly  love 

May  lure  to  realms  whose  mountain  heights  are  clouds, 

Clouds  warmly  hued  above  a  cold  gray  shoal. 

Whose  only  outlines  are  the  breakers'  caps. 

Whose  only  stir,  the  fury  of  the  storm. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxx. 

Our  thoughts  of  good  should  learn  to  separate 
The  heavenly  love  from  its  foul  earthly  nest. 
To  hold  the  latter's  dead  impurity 
At  one  with  spotless  life  that  wings  on  high. 
Is  often  to  deserve — I  will  not  judge  them. 
I  would  I  could  forget  them.  Dante,  II.,  2. 

Life  is  no  failure  in  which  earthly  love 
Is  grown  and  ripen'd  for  the  world  above. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  lii. 


104  A  POET'S  CABINET 

EASE 

There  is  most  for  us  all  to  do,  I  think, 

When  the  heart  is  least  at  ease. 
The  falls  that  leap  the  stoniest  brink 

Fill  most  with  mist  the  breeze.    Idem,  XL. 
ECCENTRIC    {see    odd) 
A  man  I  see  with  blood  and  brain  the  kind 

Earth  terms  eccentric,  since  it  finds  them  few; 
As  wise  Chinese  with  half-hiss'd  whispers  mind 

A  heathen  head  to  which  they  find  no  cue. 
For  far  extremes  his  moods  were  alwaj^s  linking, — 

The  swiftest  passions  and  the  strongest  will. 
The  maddest  fancies  and  the  sanest  thinking, 
A  poet's  ken  and  all  a  plodder's  trust  in  drill. 

Idem,  Serving,  ii. 
I  am  not  one 
Has  lived  or  worked  with  other  men.     My  soul 
Has  dwelt  alone,  and  sails  the  waves  of  life 
Like  some  stray  oil-drop  lost  upon  the  sea, 
Refusing  still,  however  wildly  tossing, 
To  lose  or  fuse  itself  in  things  about  it. 
I  have  so  craved  a  mate!  but,  whoso  came, 
The  spirit  that  is  in  me  would  deny 
My  clasping  to  a  heart  that  might  not  beat 
In  time  to  pulses  of  another's  purpose. 
So  what  I  would  caress,  I  dared  not  touch, 
For  fear  the  rhythm  throbbing  in  my  veins 
Would  prove  discordant  and  reveal  us  foes. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

ECHOES 

Ere  the  echoes  that  rehears 'd  it  learn 'd  the  tones  of 
half  the  lay.        A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xii. 

EDUCATION  SHOULD  BE  UNIVERSAL 

To  be  their  brightest,  minds  need  burnishing; 
And  earth  needs  all  the  light  that  we  can  give  it. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

EGGS,  BOILED 

....  When  travelling,  in  certain  places,  there  is 
just  one  meal  I  alwavs  order. 

....  Humph!     What's  that? 

....  Boiled  eggs.  I  am  the  first  to  get  inside  their 
shells.  On  Detective  Duty,  ii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  105 

EGOTIST,  THE 

Each  to  his  own  conception  is  a  god. 
Proclaim  him  this,  you  but  concede  a  claim 
Long  felt  within.    He  knew  it  all  before. 
....  The  egotist! 

....  Yes,  but  we  all  are  that. 

The  spirit,  we  are  told,  is  made  of  air. 
Like  air  it  is  in  this, — will  force  its  way 
And  feel  full  right  to  enter  and  possess 
Whatever  space  a  crack  or  crevice  opens 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 
Come  wounds !  come  jeers !  where  were  they  miss'd 
By  one  who  sought  the  noblest  list? 
Zeal  ne'er  did  sigh,  but  some  drone  hiss'd, 
"Be  dunce  with  me,  or  egotist." 
Wise  world,  that  you  our  due  begrudge  us 
You  yet,  years  hence,  may  understand. 
If  we  work  out  the  good,  so  judge  us; 
If  ill,  time  then  to  use  your  brand ! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  vii. 
Like  a  great  many  other  people  who  have  read  little 
and  thought  much — about  themselves — and  possess, 
in  addition,  that  susceptibility  of  temperament  which 
causes  one  to  be  easily  kindled  to  enthusiastic  ad- 
miration for  the  object  of  his  thoughts,  he  had  arrived, 
after  many  years  of  persistent  self-culture  all  tending 
in  the  same  direction,  at  the  conclusion  (than  which 
what  could  be  more  satisfactory?)  that  anything  that 
he  himself  did  not  know,  wish,  or  feel,  was  not  worth 
knowing,  wishing,  or  feeling.  Could  any  conclusion, 
if  communicated  to  others,  prove  more  beneficial  to 
them  than  this?  Was  there  any  better  method  of 
instruction  or  appeal  through  which  another's  soul 
could  become  more  completely  disinthralled  from  all 
the  petty  annoyances  that  come  to  one  so  blind  to  the 
conditions  of  perfect  peace  as  still  to  study,  doubt,  and 
struggle?  What  more  noble  aim,  then,  could  thrill 
his  trembling  locks,  explode  his  tones,  or  animate  his 
arms,  than  to  become  the  prophet  of  what  he  acted  as 
if  he  thoroughly  believed  to  be  the  kingdom  within 
himself? — the  Lord  of  which,  when  ruling  within  so 
great  a  man  as  he  was,  needed  apparently,  in  his 


I06  A  POET'S  CABINET 

opinion,  to  exercise  no  contemporaneous  lordship 
within  the  minds  or  consciences  of  any  who  surrounded 
him.  Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  vii. 

EMBRACED 

Who  would  let  a  soul,  nor  fear  it, 
Be  embraced  with  no  love  near  it, 
Both  to  cherish  and  revere  it? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxiv. 

ENFRANCHISEMENT,  A  WIFE's  {see  WOMEN) 

Only  wise. 
As  owls  that  blink  at  light ! — so  blind — nor  see 
What  day  dawns  with  a  wife's  enfranchisement; 
Ambitious,  but  forgetting  that  the  meek 
Inherit  heaven,  or  that  the  oppressor  dwarfs 
His  own  surroundings;  that  if  pride  stoop  not. 
Then  must  the  soul;  that  earthly  lords  must  bend, 
And  lift  their  consorts  to  their  own  prized  seats. 
As  equals,  queens;  or  else  must  house  with  slaves. 
And  make  the  slavish  habits  there  their  own. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  x. 

ENGAGEMENT,  A  COLLEGE 

....  And  what  is  a  college  engagement? 
....  Why,  that  of  a  home-sick  boy,  who  wants  a 
mother  or  sister.  The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

ENGLAND 

And  then — who  could  describe  in  lines  of  rhyme, 

Nor  circumscribe,  the  joy,  so  keen  yet  kind. 
That  England  holds  for  souls  of  every  clime, 

Who  honor  aught  that  nobler  makes  the  mind; 
Where  grand  cathedrals  throb  with  chorals  breathing 

Through  forms  of  grace  their  life  of  gracious  thought ; 
And  ancient  towers  decay,  with  ivy  wreathing 

Fair  forms  of  fresher  art  round  all  the  ruin  wrought. 
Nor  could  mere  words  one's  eager  wish  appease, 

When  striving  to  depict  an  English  home. 
Where  no  crude  care  intrudes  on  cultur'd  ease. 

And  service  vies  but  to  exalt  its  own. 
God  bless  thee  long,  our  own  land's  mother-nation — 

Most  motherly  when  proud  of  England  too! — 
God  bless  that  loyalty  to  each  relation. 

Inbred  with  British  blood  from  lord  to  tenant  through ! 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  107 

Our  land's  descendants  from  thee  ever  boast 

Of  what  they  first  imbibed  upon  thy  knee, — 
That  stalwart  Anglo-Saxon  sense  that  most 

In  church  and  state  keeps  thought  and  action  free; 
Who  fears  a  progress,  charg'd  with  freedom's  mission. 

That  gives  to  English  genius  broader  scope? 
Earth  fears  far  more  thy  foe,  whose  politician 

In  tearing  thy  flag  down  may  lower  the  whole  world's 
hope.      A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxxix-xli. 

ENGLISHMEN 

I  think  that  I  should  try 
The  court  of  England.    You  have  seen  their  men: — 
White  skinned,  the  spirit  just  behind  the  face. 
Their  very  faults  the  proof  they  are  not  false; 
Too  impudent  for  truthlessness,  too  bold 
To  stab  behind  one's  back,  too  proud  of  push 
To  trip  with  little  tricks,  too  fond  of  sport 
To  keep  one  down,  when  down.      Columbus,  i.,  3. 

ENJOYMENT 

Enjoyment  is  the  man's  most  heartfelt  praise 

To  Him  that  fram'd  his  being.    What  should  I, 

A  child  of  God,  do  here  but  live  God's  life? — 

Which  is  not  now,  nor  then,  but  evermore. 

My  soul  must  thrive  the  best,  as  best  I  make 

My  now,  eternal ;  my  eternal,  now. 

So  when  a  storm  comes,  let  me  bar  it  out; 

And,  braced  against  the  present  ill,  grow  strong; 

And  when  the  sunshine,  let  me  open  wide 

To  that  which  makes  all  nature  grow  more  sweet. 

Thus,  realizing  in  my  earthly  state 

The  aim  of  heaven,  why  do  I  praise  Him  less 

Whose  life  is  that  of  heaven,  than  those  who  wear 

The  guises  of  that  slattern  of  the  soul, 

Asceticism,  shuffling  toward  far  good. 

Slipshod  and  snivelling?      Ideals  Made  Real,  XLix. 

ENLARGE 

To  think  things  larger  may  enlarge  one's  thought. 

Dante,   i.,    i. 

ENLIGHTEN 

....  You  all  make  too  much  light  of  this. 
....  What  better  can  enlighten  dullness,  pray, 
Than  making  light  of  it?  Columbus,  11.,  2. 


I08  A  POETS  CABINET 

ENLIGHTENMENT 

Reclined 

Against  the  western  slope,  looked  off  to  give 
A  god-speed  to  the  sun,  and  half-believed 
The  blue-tint  sky-sheet,  held  to  light  against 
The  little  town  of  learning  that  I  loved, 
Could  bear  away  with  photographic  art 
That  which  should  give  enlightenment  to  all 
The  western  land  through  which  it  should  be  trailed. 

West  Mountain. 

ENLISTED 

Tho*  he  himself  may  be  misunderstood, 
Gainsaid  and  thwarted  by  the  very  souls 
With  whom  his  has  enlisted,  if  they  yet 
Press  bravely  forward,  he  may  feel  for  them, 
If  less  than  whole  love,  more  than  interest. 
His  lord-like  spirit,  like  the  spirit's  Lord, 
Content  to  work  or  wait,  to  do  or  die, 
If  but  the  truth  he  serves  may  be  supreme. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xli. 

ENTHUSIASM 

Enthusiasm  is 
The  essence  of  religion — valueless 
Without  its  uplift  and  its  oversight. 
If  these  it  lack,  it  is  a  lifeless  corpse 
Not  measured  by  its  worth  but  want  of  it. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 
Enthusiasm  needs  a  margin.         Idem. 
ENVY  (see  jealousy) 
I  hate  to  think  it,  yet  at  times  one  must, 
That  some  men  deem  mere  conscious  envy  conscience ; 
And  seem  most  zealous  when  they  are  but  jealous. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 
When  hunting  sometimes,  I  have  found  that  birds 
Of  brightest  plumage  are  the  soonest  shot. 
This  is  a  world  where  many  men  go  hunting. 

Columbus,    IV.,    2. 

EQUALITY 
The  nearer  heaven  our  view-points  be. 
The  more  of  men's  equality  we  see. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xvii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  109 

What  is  one  that  he  should  thrive? 

Ah,  though  high  he  be  in  station,  though  he  nobly  aim 

and  strive, — 
Yet  the  small  man  in  his  cottage  and  the  great  man 

in  his  hall 
Here  fill  equal  spheres,  the  agents  of  the  power  at  work 

in  all.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  11. 

ESPIONAGE 

Where  I  hope 
No  mortal  will  be  present  to  profane 
Vows  fit  for  only  gods  to  hear,  some  form, 
With  eyes  omniscient  as  a  very  devil's 
Incarnate  in  an  earthly  messenger, 
Outspawns  its  fouling  shadows  on  the  light 
Like  night-shades  to  the  lost  who  pray  for  day. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

EULOGIES 

If  currents  in  view 

Are  to  crystallize  too 
Like  things  of  the  past,  the  winter  will  show  it. 

The  future  must  rate 
The  fruit  of  the  present:  so  shrewd  men  wait, 

And  but  of  the  dead 

Are  their  eulogies  read. — 
Good  souls,  they  never  will  let  one  rest 
Until  he  is  borne  to  the  land  of  the  blest ! 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 

EVEN,   GETTING,   WITH  THE  LOW 

There  is  no  such  thing 
As  getting  even  with  a  low-lived  soul, 
Without  degrading  one's  own  self. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ill,  2. 

EVIL  UNIVERSAL 

The  well-made  locks  and  legal  barriers 
By  which  the  best  philanthropist  avers 
Distrust  in  men ;  the  long  sad  list  of  crimes 
In  lawyer's  lore;  the  armies  of  all  times 
With  men  so  elate  to  man  them;  anarchy 
Whose  brute  force  prostrates  all  prosperity 
Till  shot  and  steel  instate  it ;  toil  that  schemes 
For  self  or  steals  another's;  rest  that  dreams 
Of  vice  and  wakes  in  vileness;  conscience,  care, 


no  A  POETS  CABINET 

Disease,  and  death, — alike  one  record  bear; — 
All  show  the  trace  of  evil  gone  before, 
Whose  trail  is  clear  to  all,  but  clear  yet  more 
To  those  who  strive  most  hard  to  walk  aright. 
Yet  walk  misled  where  but  the  past  sends  light. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xxi. 

EXAMPLE 

All  men  who  try 
To  glorify  the  Lord  on  high 
Must  prove  His  goodness  through  their  own. 
They  cannot  lead  one  toward  His  throne, 
Save  through  the  Godlike  traits  alone 
That  their  transfigured  lives  have  shown. 

Idem,  Doubting,  XLiil. 
Not  skill  to  chide  another's  pride 
Can  make  a  wise  or  welcome  guide; 
But  he  the  best  for  noble  deeds 
Inspires  his  kind,  who  best  succeeds 
In  finding  what  his  own  soul  needs. 
Though  others'  need  to  his  be  small, 
He  may  be  less,  yet  more  than  all. 
Nay,  God  gives  each  an  equal  call, 
With  ill  to  bear  and  good  to  share 
And,  whether  it  be  full  or  spare. 
Some  truth  to  show  the  Godlike  there. 

Idem,  XLiv. 

EXAMPLE   AND   INFLUENCE 

How  can 
I  pray  the  gods  to  give  me  light,  if  those 
That  have  been  sent  to  lead  me  where  it  shines 
Forever  stand  betwixt  my  soul  and  it? 

The  Aztec  God,  ii. 

EXAMPLE,  IN  A  LEADER 

Those  are  most  worth  our  help  on  earth 
Whose  eyes  look  up,  and  he  who  stands  above  them. 
Would  he  fulfill  their  soul's  ideal,  must  show 
A  life  worth  while  their  looking  up  to  see. 

Idem,  IV.,  I. 

EXCEPTIONAL  DEEDS 

Our  deeds  that  are  exceptional  appear  the  rule  to  those 
who  see  us  only  once.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  in 

EXCESS  OF  SERVICE  IN  NATURE  {see  OVERFLOW) 

Think  not  that  every  leaf  that  sprouts  in  spring 

Must  be  a  stem  straight-pointed  toward  a  flower; 

That  every  bud  must  bring  a  blossom-nest 

In  which  to  hatch  and  home  a  future  fruit. 

Full  many  a  leaf  can  only  catch  the  shower 

And  quench  the  dry  limb's  thirst ;  full  many  a  bud 

Grow  bright  alone  as  might  a  short-lived  spark 

Aglow  to  show  some  source  of  kindled  fragrance — 

Aglow  to  show  itself  a  part  and  partner 

Of  that  excess  of  service  in  which  all 

The  starry  worlds  are  joined,  as,  hung  beneath 

Heaven's  dome,  like  golden  censers  brimmed  with  fumes 

Of  smouldering  myrrh,  their  God-enkindled  fires 

Now  flash,  now  fail,  while  souls,  awe-thrilled  to  thought 

Both  trust  and  fear  their  fires*  unfailing  Source. 

Berlin  Mountain. 

EXCITEMENT 

You  hunger  for  excitement,  man.    You  hail 
The  trump  of  war,  the  tramp  of  onset,  all 
That  sweeps  you  on  where  drafts  of  life  and  love 
Fan  up  the  flames  that  flicker  in  the  breast 
And  set  the  whole  form's  trembling  veins  aglow. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

EXCLUSIVENESS,     IN     SOCIETY 

If  you  want  to  be  "of  the  few, "  you  must  take  care 
to  let  people  know  that  you  are  not  "of  the  many." 

Where  Society  Leads,  l. 

EXPECTATIONS 

Fresh  expectations,  like  fresh  eggs,  may  hatch. 
Not  so  with  stale  ones,  though,  however  white. 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 

EXPECTATIONS,  YOUTHFUL 

Frail,  faint  heart! 
And  it  had  so  much  life!     I  thought  its  thrills 
The  rilling  of  a  fount  whose  brook  should  flow 
Out  to  a  sea  of  life,  as  wide  as  earth. 
And  upward  to  a  golden  clouded  heaven. 
Why,  all  my  moods — they  banner  spring-time  yet, 
The  buds  but  just  unfolding,  scarce  a  flutter 
To  balm  the  breeze  with  their  sweet  promises! 


112 


A  POET'S  CABINET 


Must  all  be  now  cut  off?— uprooted?— what? 

The  prickliest  cactus  clutches,  at  the  last, 

Theflower  toward  which  it  grows ;  and  shall  these  nerves, 

All  tender  to  the  touch  of  life,  so  live 

Themselves,  so  hungry  to  be  fed,  yet  void 

Of  all  with  which  hope  pledged  them  to  be  filled — 

Shall  they  be  cheated  out  of  this  they  craved? 

Are  all  the  visions  of  the  fancy  frauds 

That  fool  our  faith,  anticipating  joy 

That  never  comes?     Is  that  mysterious  power 

That  prompts  our  lives  to  be,  and  pushes  on 

Toward  what  it  promised  them,  so  vilely  weak 

That,  like  a  knave  who  fears  to  be  outwitted. 

It  needs  must  lash  and  lure  us  with  a  lie? — _ 

Yet  now — O  heaven!     I  will  not  so  beheve  it. 

I  cannot;  no.  The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

EXPERIENCE,   A   GUIDE   TO   TRUTH 

A  man  of  sense 
Trusts  first  his  own  experience; 
Nor  waives  the  truth  he  draws  from  thence 
For  all  mankind's  experiments. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxiii. 

The  moonlight  guides  us,  if  we  have  no  sun. 
But  forms  that  loom  at  midnight  lie  to  those 
Who  know  them  in  the  day;  and  in  the  day 
No  judgment  of  the  distance  can  be  true 
Except  for  him  who  pushes  on  to  reach  it. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 
It  is  our  trjdng 
That  turns  the  latch-key  of  experience. 
Whose  door  swings  inward  quite  as  oft  as  outward. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

EXPERIENCE,  one's  OWN,  INDICATED  BY  HIS  CHARACTER 

Each  passing  season  circling  round  a  tree  ^ 

Leaves,  clasping  it,  a  ring;  the  rings  remain, 

So  seasons  past  remain  about  the  soul: 

And  men  can  trace  its  former  Hfe  far  less 

By  tales  the  tongue  may  tell,  than  by  the  range 

And  reach  of  that  which  circumscribes  the  mood. 

Including  or  excluding  right  or  wrong. 

Haydn,  xxix. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  113 

EXPERIENCES,    UNPLEASANT,    ARE   TRANSITORY 

Only  have  a  little  faith  and  patience.  Experiences 
like  yours  never  last  forever.  They  are  like  bad  dreams. 
Sometimes,  the  very  first  hour  after  one  wakes,  one 
feels  as  well  as  if  he  had  had  no  dream. 

Where  Society  Leads,  ill. 

EXPERT 

No  man  who  is  no  expert  risks  a  judgment 
On  questions  experts  only  can  decide. 
Without  revealing  his  own  lack  of  judgment. 

Dante,   11.,   2. 
EXPRESSION    {see   REPRESSION   and   words) 
A  mood  but  half  expressed  is  all  distressed. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 
Whom  God  inspires,  though  they  unheeded  sing, 
May  be  through  mere  expression  wholly  blest. 

The  Solitary  Singer. 
When  the  heart  is  all  aglow 

With  the  flame  of  love's  desire, 
The  inward  fume  must  outward  flow, 
Or  smother  all  the  fire. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xx. 
What  can  curse  one  worse 
Than  force  that  jails  expression,  whether  walled 
In  masonry  or  flesh ! — Though  it  may  be 
Fit  training  for  a  life  whose  brightest  end 
Is  death.    If  all  men  die  alone,  may  be 
They  ought  to  learn,  ere  death,  to  live  alone. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 
Themes  and  aims  as  grand  as  these 
Overflow  the  burden'd   words   that   bear    our   lesser 

thoughts  with  ease. 
Many  guiding  views  beyond  us  loom  but  dimly  un- 
derstood : 
Many  schemes  are  hatch'd  to  famish  where  our  im- 
perfections brood. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  ix. 

He  comes  on  plotting. — That  is  plain  enough. 

How  form  and  face — mere  garments  that  they  are — 

Will  twist  and  wrinkle  to  a  touch  of  thought ! 

Columbus,  III.,  2. 


114  A  POET'S  CABINET 

EXPRESSION  TO  FIT  THE  MOOD 

Go  bid  the  flowers 
Keep  back  their  perfume;  then,  perchance,  may  souls, 
All  sweet  with  blooming  love,  keep  back  sweet  words. 

Haydn,  i. 

EYE 

Shone  a  light  in  her  dark,  deep  eye 

Pure  as  a  star,  when  shining 
Far  in  a  sky  whose  depths  defy 

All  but  a  god's  divining. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  ii. 

Ay,  oft  I  hide  my  eyes  apace 

Beneath  my  eyelids'  awning; 
Too  bright  behind  each  flushing  face 

A  holy  light  seems  dawning. 

Each  eye  I  see  appears  a  lens, 

Through  which,  with  stolen  glances, 

A  realm  divine  my  spirit  kens. 

Which  all  my  hope  entrances.    Idem,  vill. 

EYE,  MEN  INFLUENCED  THROUGH  THE 

Try  looking  at  them,  my  lady.  The  men  that  oppose 
a  man  will  sometimes  yield  to  a  woman.  The  toughest 
of  them  can  be  wounded  like  crocodiles  through  the 
eye.  The  Ranch  Girl,  ii. 

EYE,  STEADY,  VS.  DODGING 

He  never  holds  a  steady  eye  to  greet 
The  look  that  rests  on  him.     It  seems  as  if 
He  feared  that  one  might  spy  within  his  brain 
Some  secret  that  a  dodging  glance  could  shield. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

EYE  AND  EYES,  WHEN  BLUE 

Farmer  lad,  where  the  herd  will  drink 
Waits  a  maid  that  bathes  by  the  brink 
Bare  brown  feet;  and  the  rill,  made  sweet, 
ThriUs  to  touch  her  who  thee  would  greet. 
There  is  more  for  thee  in  the  blue  of  her  eye 
Than  in  all  the  towns  that  are  under  the  sky. 

Farmer  Lad. 

I  seem  to  see  him  yet,  the  straight  brown  hair 
Toss'd  wildly  backward  from  the  broad  white  brow. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  115 

The  sunburnt  cheeks,  the  deep  and  wondering  eyes, 

As  blue  when  grand  emotion  swept  within. 

As  autumn  skies  are  in  the  northwest  wind, 

With  just  as  much  of  heaven  back  of  them. 

Dear  boy!  A  Life  in  Song:  Note  i. 

EYES 

A  sight  supreme,  arousing  me: — 
Two  bright  eyes  only,  sparkling  in  the  light, 
Where  flush'd  a  face  that  flared,  then  hid  itself 
Behind  a  travelling  hood,  befieck'd  with  dust. 
And  fring'd  with  venturous  locks  of  careless  hair. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  ix. 

Look  up,  my  love,  and  let  me  see 

Those  eyes  of  thine  gaze  full  on  me. 

One  glimpse  were  heaven,  although  their  light 

Should  blind  me  to  each  lesser  sight. 

What  though  their  more  than  earthly  fire 

Should  turn  to  flame  my  heart's  desire; 

'T  were  sweet  to  let  this  life  of  mine 

All  burn  to  incense  at  thy  shrine. 

O  could  thy  power  thus  make  me  thine, 

'T  would  all  my  coarser  self  refine; 

For  nothing  would  be  left  of  me, 

Save  what  should  be  a  part  of  thee. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XLiii. 

EYES,     EXPECTANT 

When 
His  troopers  flash  in  sight  here,  why,  these  eyes 
That  have  been  straining  so  to  see  them  come 
Will  scratch  some  blinks  to  cure  their  vision's  itching. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

EYES,  EXPRESSION  OF 

Her  features,  while  not  sufficiently  regular  to  answer 
all  requirements  of  beauty,  were,  nevertheless,  pecul- 
iarly fascinating  because  cast  into  shade  by  the 
peculiar  brightness  of  her  eyes.  These  might  have 
been  called  blue,  but  there  was  in  them,  more  than  in 
any  other  eyes  that  I  ever  saw,  that  constantly  chang- 
ing color  and  expression  that  seems  to  say,  "I  trust 
you — no,  I  don't,"  which,  because  it  sets  a  man  to 
thinking  and  keeps  him  at  it,  is  more  likely  perhaps  to 


Ii6  A  POET'S  CABINET 

awaken  his  interest  in  a  woman  than  any  other  charm 
that  she  can  possess.         Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  ii. 

EYES  vs.  SOUL,  IN  SEEING 

When  their  eyes  are  open,  then  they  see  so  much 
besides  that  they  don't  care  for.  It's  only  when  the 
eyes  are  shut  the  soul  can  wholly  live  with  those  it 
wholly  likes  to  live  with. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  ii. 

FACE,  FLAMED 

My  face  flamed  hot  as  if  its  veil  of  flesh 
Would  burn,  and  bare  the  soul. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xil. 

FACING    DANGER 

A  man  who  once  begins  to  swim  a  current,  must 
face  the  way  it  flows — it  is  never  safe  to  dash  heel 
forward  where  one  needs  a  head. 

Oti  Detective  Duty,  III. 

FACTION 

Now  who  remembers  faction 
Forgets  his  Florence.  Dante,  i.,  i. 

The  trumpets  call  to  action 

Through  all  the  threatened  land, 
No  more  is  heard  of  faction. 
The  time  has  come  to  band. 
What  soul  can  see 
The  state  in  fear,  and  fail  to  be 
Beneath  the  flag,  enrolled  with  all 
That  heed  the  trumpet's  call? 
No  patriots  are  they  who  can  see 
The  state  in  fear  and  fail  to  be 
Beneath  the  flag,  enrolled  with  all 
That  heed  the  trumpet's  call. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  2. 

FACTS    AND    FANCIES 

Men  take  too  many  chances 
In  drawing  facts  from  fancies.  Idem,  I. 

FAILED 

The  soul  succeeded  though  its  project  failed. 
He  lost  his  outward  end,  indeed,  but  gain'd 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  1 17 

An  inward  end  that,  for  his  youthful  years, 
Had  far  more  value. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  in. 

FAILURE 

Failure 

....  Shows  a  spirit  as  it  is. 

It  throws  one's  manhood  into  full  relief, 
Stript  of  all  circumstance  and  accident. 

Columhus,  II.,  I. 

FAIRNESS 

If  you're  fair  men,  to  win  your  race,  you  only  want 
fair  play,  hands  off,  and  elbow  room — a  clear  track, 
and  the  right  of  way.    That's  what  the  law  gives. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps:  iii.,  2. 

FAIR   PLAY 

Now,  now,  fair  play!     Fair  play  in  argument 
Will  catch  our  thoughts  before  it  throws  them  back. 

Columhus,  I.,  2. 

FAITH    {see   CREEDS,    DEEDS,    HUMANITY,    KNOWLEDGE, 

PROGRESS,  and  nature,  material  AS  A  school) 
If  still  for  growth  in  truth  we  trust, 
While  faith  can  dare,  it  cannot  die. 
With  facts  against  it,  't  will  espy 
Far  distant  lights  that  guide  its  eye. 
Snatch  hope  from  talons  of  despair. 
And  welcome  flight  with  fancies  fair. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xviil. 
Foremost  of  our  best  possessions,  faith  fails  not  that 

can  but  feel ; 
Yet  how  blest  are  they  who  know  and  can  their 

grounds  of  faith  reveal. 
They  alone,  amid  the  shades,  where  men  who  move 

toward  mystery 
Long  to  know  what  joy  or  woe  is  yet  to  be  their  destiny. 
They  alone,  with  heaven-lit  torches,  flashing  light  the 

darkness  through, 
Can  disclose  beyond  the  gloom  the  looming  outlines 
of  the  true.  Idem,  Dreaming,  ix. 

FAITH  AND  FACTS 

His  body  served  the  soil,  but  from  the  skies 

He  breathed  the  spirit  in  with  which  he  wrought. 


Il8  A  POET'S  CABINET 

In  them  he  saw  fair  homes  and  cities  rise. 

No  facts  can  bury  faith  that  Hves  in  thought. 

The  American  Pioneer. 

FAITH    AND    REASON 

To  walk  by  faith  and  not  walk  hand  in  hand  with 
reason  also,  is  to  walk  to  ruin. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

FAITH  AND  THINKING 

But  I  was  thinking 

....  Thinking  has  its  dangers. 

....  Yes,  but  for  it  I  should  have  been  a  priest. 
At  present,  am  confessor  but  to  you. 
And  my  advice  is, — not  to  say  to  others 
What  you  have  said  to  me. 
....  Why? 

....  It  would  make 

The  world  suspect  you. 
....  How? — and  what? 

....  Why,  say, 

Your  faith. 

....  Impossible!    God  knows — they  know — 

The  purpose  of  my  life. — 
.  .  .  .  Your  life!  But  faith- 

Is  not  a  thing  to-day  of  life,  but  talk; 
And  God — He  has  not  much  to  do  with  it. 
A  man  of  faith,  is  one  whose  faith  in  those 
To  whom  he  talks  will  make  him  talk  their  thoughts. 
None  here  will  think  that  what  you  say  can  be. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 

FAITH   IN   MAN   AS   WELL  AS   GOD,   ESSENTIAL 

{see  honor) 
....  Suppose  the  women  cease  to  trust  the  men? 
....  Suppose  they  go  to  hell.  They  will  go  there 
no  sooner  if  they  lose  their  faith  in  man  than  if  they 
lose  it  in  divinity.  In  one  regard  the  Mormon  theory 
is  right — though  it  applies  to  both  the  sexes — when 
faith  in  man  is  gone,  all  chance  is  gone  of  being  saved 
oneself,  or  saving  others. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

Not  all  the  doubts  of  the  creeds 
Can  shake  their  faith  who  find 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  119 

No  selfishness  back  of  the  deeds 
Of  one  pure  sensitive  mind. 

Love  and  Life,  xiii. 
The  world  is  wide,  and  wisdom  strange; 
To  find  it  one  must  freely  range; 
And,  when  from  this  to  that  we  change, 
We  lose  our  friend,  unless  his  mood 
Will  justly  weigh  our  former  good 
With  what  is  now  misunderstood, 
And  though  he  cannot  see  our  goals, 
Have  faith  enough  to  trust  our  souls, — 
Faith  man  as  well  as  God  demands 
From  every  soul  that  near  him  stands. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxvii. 

FAITH,    TO    one's    OWN    SOUL 

They  are  proud 
Of  one  who,  all  his  lifetime,  has  kept  faith 
With  his  own  soul,  however  left  alone. 

Columbus,   v.,   2. 

FAITHFUL,  THE,  VS.  THE  WISE 

....  The   wise 

Aim  not  beyond  their  reach. 

....  The    faithful    aim 
Wherever  they  are  called.  Idem,  11.,  i. 

FALLEN 

Look — my  soul ! — a  man  has  tumbled ; 
Shown  himself  a  beast,  and  humbled 
Man  and  God,  at  whom  he  grumbled. — 
Moans  a  wife  now  never  sleeping. 
Babes  that  her  thin  hands  are  keeping: — 
Waits  a  grave  where  none  are  weeping. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxiv. 

FALL  OUT,  WHEN  OUR  ENEMIES 

When  our  enemies  fall  out, 
'T  is  time  that  we  ourselves  fall  in.    For  then 
They  fight  for  their  own  cause  with  half  their  force 
And  with  the  other  half  they  fight  for  us. 

Dante,  I.,  2. 
FAME  {see  MONUMENT  and  posthumous) 
Ah,  why  should  one  who  shrinks  from  sight 
Essay  to  push  where  fame's  clear  light 


120  A  POETS  CABINET 

Can  make  him  but  a  target  bright, 
Where  every  individual  mood 
And  all  the  best  he  has  pursued 
Is  flouted  or  misunderstood? — 
Where  sense  might  rather  wish  to  be 
A  wild  beast  caged  for  men  to  see 
Than  be  a  lion  such  as  he? — • 
With  every  word  he  speaks  the  cause 
Of  public  jeering  or  applause, 
And  every  one  he  loves,  in  fear 
That  half  the  world  will  elbow  near; 
Through  life  a  slave  to  scrutiny, 
When  dead,  a  dress'd-up  effigy, 
A  puppet  of  biography. 
That  dances  high  or  dances  low 
To  please  the  men  who  make  him 
To  please  the  men  who  strip  him  bare. 
To  bring  him  shame,  or  make  him  wear 
A  suit  striped  like  a  convict's,  where, 
With  every  hue  that  helps  his  fame, 
Alternate  shades  insure  him  blame? 
Ye  fools,  who  ne'er  for  wisdom  sought, 
And  ne'er  for  deeds  immortal  wrought. 
Ye  never  knew,  nor  fancied  aught 
That  near'd  at  all  the  inward  thought 
Of  men  of  truth,  whose  footsteps  went 
Through  life  that  was  one  long  ascent: 
They  did  not  seek  a  monument. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxxvil. 
Immortal  fame  .  .  And  do  you  think  .  .  that  this 
Could  set  the  heart  at  ease? — or  think  you  none. 
If  set  at  ease,  can  thrill  with  drum-like  throbs 
That  marshal  on  the  spirit  to  success?        Haydn,  iv. 

FAMILY    LOVE 

How  blest  is  the  mother 

Whose  boy  is  her  lover! 
How  blest  is  the  father  who  seems  but  a  brother! 
How  blest  all  the  household  who  all  discover 
That  even  a  babe's  life  just  begun 
Has  a  heart  and  a  head  that  must  be  won  ; 
That  the  youngest  will  with  a  wish  has  rights 
For  all  to  respect ! 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  121 

Ah,  what  is  there  human  that  nature  slights, 
And  what  in  Hfe  that  love  can  neglect! 
The  petty  desire  of  the  tenderest  tone 
To  God  is  as  great  and  as  dear  as  one's  own. 

Love  and  Life,  XLVii. 

FAMILY    PRIDE 

No  poison  paralyzes  thought  like  pride; 
No  pride  as  poisonous  as  family  pride. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

FANATICISM 

A  Moloch,  clasping  in  his  arms  of  fire 
Desires  he  kindles,  but  can  never  quench. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

FANCY 

Fancy  is  the  flower  of  thought. 
The  more  of  life  there  is,  the  more  of  flower: 
The  more  of  thought  there  is,  the  more  of  fancy. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

Who  think  the  poets'  fancies  true?    Their  brains. 
Like  helmets  when  their  metal  is  the  best. 
Receive  the  light  of  life  and  flash  it  back. 
None  take  the  flash  for  fire.  Idem. 

FANCY  AND   FACT 

A  fresh  young  brain  acts  like  a  keg  of  beer  when 
freshly  brewed.  You  try  to  tap  it,  and  at  first  you  find 
the  froth  of  fancy,  not  the  flow  of  fact. 

On  Detective  Duty,  v. 

The  world  you  think  in  is  a  world  of  fancy. 

The  world  all  live  in  is  a  world  of  fact. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 
Not  fact-full  only,  but  a  mind  that  you 
Deem  fanciful,  is  needed,  would  a  man 
Put  this  and  that  together,  and  build  up 
The  only  structure  that  can  make  his  facts 
Worth  knowing.  Columbus,  i.,  i. 

FANCY   AND    TRUTH 

A  woman's  fancy  may  be  near  the  truth. 
....  As  near  as  fire  to  water.    Yonder  pool 
Is  truth.    The  sunbeam  it  reflects  is  fancy. 
One  water  is,  one  fire.  The  Aztec  God,  iii. 


122  A  POETS  CABINET 

FANCY  AND  REALITY 

Our  fancies  are  the  children  of  the  soul, 
With  rights  of  heritage  as  true  as  those 
Of  any  other  form  of  thought.    If  so, 
Then  their  relationship  may  be  as  true — 
Though  how  we  never  now  can  understand — 
To  that  which  mortals  term  reality. 

Dante,  III.,  i. 

FAREWELL 

Oh,  bitter,  bitter,  bitter  word  farewell, 
So  bitter  when  the  lips  belie  the  heart 
That  knows  too  well  that  life  will  not  fare  well. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

FARMER 

Brought  near  the  man,  he  finds  his  frame  is  bent. 

As  if  by  long  devotion  to  his  lands; 
His  arms  are  brown  with  heat  by  sunlight  sent 

To  turn  red-ripe  the  fruit  served  by  his  hands. 

His  chest  is  broad,  and  gratefully  expands 
To  feel  the  generous  air  his  health  renew, — 

A  master  of  his  house  and  farm  he  stands. 
Who,  fearing  no  man,  dares  to  all  be  true. 
With  open  eyes  and  lips  that  let  the  soul  speak  through. 
A  Life  in  Song :  Daring,  xv. 

FASHION 

Like  bodies  why  should  souls,  forsooth, 
Not  be  well  padded,  stay'd,  and  laced 
To  suit  the  world's  prevailing  taste, 
Till  through  the  form  no  truth  is  traced? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxix. 
The  most  beautiful  thing  in  the  world  is  the  human 
face  and  form,  the  most  attractive  thing  the  human 
mind  and  soul.  Your  set  paint  the  face  and  upholster 
the  form  till  the  whole  personality  comes  at  one  from 
behind  a  mask.  What  sense  is  there  in  making  life 
uninteresting?  The  most  charming  sight  conceivable, 
I  think,  is  a  fresh,  pretty  girl  in  a  clean,  unadorned 
white  gown.  What  Money  Can't  Buy,  ill, 

FASHION,  AND  WOMEN 

You  flaunt  the  flag  of  fashion  in  a  crowd 
And,  in  the  bee-line  of  their  rush  to  tail 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  123 

Its  leading,  one  could  pick  the  women  out 
Without  their  having  skirts  on.    Columbus ,  ill. ,  i. 

FAST  LIFE 

Suppose  this  heart  a  toy 

Wound  up  to  run  through  just  so  many  ticks 

....  I  see,  you  mean  a  fast  life  is  a  short  life. 
....  The  fleetest  foot  is  first  beside  the  goal. 

.  .  .  .  But  if  the  goal  be  high  as  well  as  far 

....  The  bird  of  fleetest  wing  may  fly  the  highest. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

FATE  AND  FREE   WILL 

.  .  .  .Must  all  new  growth  be  planted  in  the  earth? 

...  .Is  any  germ  that  grows  not  planted  there? 

.  .  .  .What  trains  it  then? 

....  Some  say  that  where  it  falls, 

In  age,  clime,  country,  family,  fleshly  form. 

The  mighty  wheels  of  matter — earth  and  moon, 

And  sun  and  planets,  all  the  unseen  stars 

Of  all  the  universe  that  round  it  roll — 

With  one  unending  whirl  grind  out  its  fate; 

Yet  only  earthly  fate.    Flung  to  and  fro, 

And  torn  by  care  and  toil  and  pain  and  loss. 

The  spirit  knows  in  spirit  it  is  free; 

And,  true  to  its  high  nature,  may  pass  through 

The  terror  of  the  ordeal  with  all 

The  finer  flour  of  nature's  grain  preserved. 

....  So  though  careers  be  fated,  souls  are  free? 

....  The  consciousness  of  freedom  comes  from  force 

Which  is  of  heaven;  the  consciousness  of  fate 

From  that  which  is  of  earth;  and  both  are  true; 

Or  that  which  makes  all  feel  them  both  is  false. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

FATHER,  THE  HEAVENLY 

Ah,  who  that  thinks,  can  yet  believe  it  true 
That  earth  has  not  a  common  Father? — who 
Can  deem  that  any  soul  is  wholly  driven 
From  light  that  blesses  all.     Some  ray  has  given 
Some  glimpse  to  each  one  who  has  heavenward  striven. 

Idem:  Seeking,  xix. 

father's  vs.  mother's  INFLUENCE 

I  think  the  father  starts  the  tendency,  the  mother 


124  A  POET'S  CABINET 

molds  it,  then  they  both  together,  when  life  has  left 
their  handling,  and  been  launched,  stand  on  the  shores, 
like  builders  of  a  ship,  and  hope  the  storms  will  not 
have  strength  to  wreck  it.  On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

FAULT-FINDING 

When  you  visit  your  neighbor's  garden  you  ought  to 
judge  it  by  what  appears  on  the  surface.  If  you  choose 
to  dig  down  into  the  dirt  and  soil  yourself,  it  is  not  his 
fault  but  yours.  What  Money  Can't  Buy,  ii. 

FEARS 

You  fill  my  soul  with  fears  for  you;  but,  ah, 
With  fears  that  are  so  sweet,  again  I  fear 
That  my  own  soul  is  what  I  most  should  fear. 
....  The  wise  fright  off  their  fears  by  facing  them. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

FEEDING  IN  SOCIETY 

Most  fish  that  I  know  of  can  be  caught  by  bait. 
Throw  overboard  enough  to  keep  busy  the  mouths 
that  are  opening  to  you,  and  though  you  seem  some 
distance  from  the  general  current,  it  may  prove  more 
difficult  to  keep  out  of  society  than  to  get  into  it. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

FEELING 

Who  can  know 

Round  what  conceits  our  surging  fancies  foam 
When  depths  of  feeling  rise,  and  overflow, 
And  swamp  the  reason  in  their  floods  of  woe? 
Alas,  one  can  but  feel  (while  all  sweep  on. 

And,  flitting  through  their  mist  and  darkness,  show 
Grim  ghosts  of  buried  good  with  features  wan) 
Sensations  too  acute  for  thoughts  to  poise  upon. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xxxix. 
The  surest  way  to  keep  from  feeling  things 
Is  not  to  touch  them.  The  Aztec  God,  ii. 

FEELING,  DEPENDENT  ON  THOUGHT 

The  soul  of  feeling  is  in  thought,  not  so? 
Then  one,  to  feel  refresh'd,  must  think  she  bathes 
In  rills  that  reach  her  from  the  freshest  springs. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xvi. 

FEELING  IN  MEN  AND  WOMEN 

No  one  admires  a  man  who  yields  to  feeling. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  125 

....  And  few  a  woman  who  does  not  yield  to  it. 

....  Strong  argument  against  a  woman  ruler ! 

....  And  yet  some  say  the  sexes  are  alike. 

....  Will  never  grow  alike  'till  men  grow  soft  and 
women  sharp. 

....  And  both  grow  like  the  devil — the  one 
because  they  have  no  strength,  the  other  because 
they  have  no  sweetness  to  outwit  him. 

....  You  ever  note  how  suffragettes  object  to 
have  us  praise  up  sweetness  in  a  woman? 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  il. 

FEELINGS  vs.  FACTS,  IN  FELLOWSHIP 

With  outer  facts  we  merely  fashion  faction, 
In  inner  feeling  we  find  fellowship. 

Dante,  11.,  i. 

FEET 

To  and  fro  the  folds  of  her  gown, 
With  fair  little  feet  below  them, 

To  and  fro  and  up  and  down 
Daintily  swung  to  show  them. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  II. 

FELLOWSHIP,  THAT  BRINGS  COMPETITION 

That  strange  stress 
Of  human  fellowship  which  sometimes  makes 
A  fellow-worker,  from  his  very  zeal 
To  help  another,  elbow  him  aside, 
Had  seemed  to  force  me  to  a  precipice 
As  real  as  any  that  my  feet  could  find; 
And  I  must  fight,  or  fall;  and  if  I  fought 
Must  fight  myself  and  fight  my  every  friend. 

West  Mountain. 

FEVER 

How  marvellously  throng'd  with  strange  weird  shapes 

Deep  halls  of  fancy  loom,  when  lighted  up 

By  fires  of  fever.  Haydn,  xxil. 

FIDELITY  TO  MAN,  SAME  AS  TO  GOD 

You  think  fidelity  to  man  can  grow 
From  germs  of  infidelity  to  God? 
You  think  that  questioning  the  forms  men  most 
Esteem  proves  high  esteem  for  men  themselves? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 


126  A  POETS  CABINET 

FIGURES 

You  speak  in  figures. 

We  all  live  in  them. 
What  then? 

Why,  they  are  beautiful. 
And  this 
Gives  life  its  beauty? 

....  Ay,    and   interest. 

For  every  time  a  spirit  veiled  in  them 
Reveals  itself,  why,  it  anticipates 
The  resurrection  of  the  soul,  not  so? 
And  that  brings  heaven. 

....  Then  to  reveal  myself 

....  Is  very  much  in  such  a  world  as  this — 
When  owning  so  much  that  is  worth  revealing. 
....  You  jest. 

....  I  am  in  earnest.    When  one  needs 
More  strength  of  spirit,  nothing  save  a  spirit 
Can  ever  give  it.     You  have  given  me  yours. 

Columbus,  II.,  I. 

FIGURES  LIKE  WORDS  SHOULD  BE  TRUE 

A  figure  of  a  man  untrue  to  the  conditions  of  nature 
would  be  no  more  out  of  place  in  painting  or  sculpture 
than  the  words  of  a  man  untrue  to  the  same  would  be 
in  poetry. 

Painting,  Sculp.,  and  Arch,  as  Rep.  Arts,  ii. 

FINE  vs.  COARSE  MEN 

....  Fine  man. 

....  No;  not  what  I  call  fine. 

....  Because  the  man  has  risen  in  life? — If 
one  shake  pebbles  in  a  pail,  the  fine  ones  fall,  the 
coarse  ones  rise,  you  think? 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  v. 

FIRE,  PLAYING  WITH 

Dangerous  to  play  with  fire!  All  easy  enough 
beginning  it;  but  when  it  gets  to  burning — well, 
is  like  a  crack  there  in  the  dam.  Your  little 
finger,  when  it  starts,  can  check  the  flood  and 
stop  the  leak;  let  go  a  time,  the  strongest  man 
who  tried  to  stem  it  would  be  drowned. 

Idem,  I. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  127 

FIRES  IN  THE  HEART 

Great  fires  are  kindled  in  a  moment  only 
Where  hearts  are  tinder,  and  a  glance  a  spark. 

The  Aztec  God,  in. 

FISHER 

You  never  saw  a  fisher  catch  a  fish 

Whose  hook  would  not  get  tangled  in  the  line. 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 

FIST 

The  fist  is  fashioned  for  the  use  of  God 
In  just  as  true  a  sense  as  is  the  finger, — 
What  grasps  a  sword  as  that  which  guides  a  pen. 

Dante,  iii.,  2. 

FLAG,  THE  AMERICAN 

Hail,  all  hail,  the  flag  above  us.    In  its  blue  more  bright 
Shine  the  stars  to  guide  our  way  than  in  the  dome  of 

night ; 
Higher  aims  the  hope  that  sees  them,  for  their  spotless 

white 

Symbols  the  pure  light  of  freedom. 

Hail,  all  hail,  the  flag  above  us.     Nature  never  knew, 
In  the  dawn's  red  ladder-bars  where  daylight  climbs 

to  view, 
Stripes  that  brought  as  fair  a  day  as  these  anon  shall  do, 
When  all  the  world  turns  to  freedom. 

Hurrah !  Hurrah !  beneath  the  flag  to  be ! 
Hurrah !  Hurrah !  its  loyal  wards  are  we ! 
Where  the  Stars  and  Stripes  are  flying  over  land  or  sea. 
Under  the  flag  there  is  freedom. 

Hail  the  Flag. 
flattery 

No  friendship  that  is  true 
Was  ever  caught  or  kept  by  flattery. 

Dante,  I.,  2. 
flesh 
Does  ever  the  slightest  move  of  mine 
With  rhythm  so  fill  the  air, 
That  her  veins  all  beat 
With  throbs  more  sweet, 
Than  if  she  were  breathing  a  breeze  divine. 
And  a  god  were  passing  there? 


128  A  POETS  CABINET 

Can  ever  my  flesh  appear  so  fair, 
And  the  blood  so  warm  below 
That  the  gentlest  touch 
Is  all  too  much? — 
Nor  her  tingling  nerves  can  bear 
The  joys  that  through  them  flow? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XLiv. 

FLIGHTY 

They  call  him  flighty. 

....  So  are  birds — and  so 

Are — angels 

....  What? 

....  And  every  kind  of  life 

Above  the  common.  Columbus ,  i.,  2. 

FLIGHTY  MINDS 

These  flighty  minds 

That  cut  connection  with  the  world's  demands 

Are  sure  to  have  a  limping  time  of  it, 

If  ever  they  get  down  to  useful  work.      Dante,  i.,  I. 
FLIRT  (see  COURTING  and  suitors) 
I  watch'd  a  man  and  maid,  to-day: 
Each  dimm'd  the  other's  eyes  with  spray. 
He  dash'd  from  his  life's  dregs  unseen 
What  pleased  the  lady's  wistful  mien, — 
A  maid  not  vicious,  yet  I  ween 
Not  loath  to  be,  with  open  eyes, 
His  mate  whom  honor  could  not  prize. 
Ah,  lust  is  lush  in  flatteries  wise! 
Full  well  she  liked  her  dash  of  danger 
With  such  a  spicy,  saucy  stranger — 
But  let  them  pass.    For  conquest  girt, 
The  man  a  rake,  the  maid  a  flirt. 
Will  get,  when  caught,  their  own  desert; 
Be  prey;  and  prey  is  always  hurt. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxiX- 

Forsooth,  if  beauty  pleases  me,  I  smile; 

If  gracefulness  beguile  me,  gaze  at  it; 

If  wisdom  awe  me,  offer  my  respect. 

Good  art  I  laud;  with  fancy,  am  a  poet; 

And  with  emotion,  an  enthusiast. 

What  then? — Am  I  a  hypocrite? — How  so? — 


Awake,  asleep,  throned  constant  o'er  my  heart, 
I  served  this  image  all  intangible. 
This  photographic  fantasy. 

See  page  i8y. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  I29 

Must  all  our  sympathy  be  personal? 

Must  one  appropriate  all  that  he  would  praise? 

Is  beauty  such  a  flower,  or  is  a  man 

So  much  a  beast,  that,  having  taste  for  it, 

He  needs  must  go  and  gorge  it  down  ? — Go  to ! — 

I  watch  the  fair  thing;  of  its  fragrance  quaff; 

Then  leave  for  others.     Ideals  Alade  Real,  xxxiii. 

Ah  me,  but  I  pity  the  race 
If  one  with  his  beast  of  a  face 
Can  win  a  woman  like  that, 
By  dancing  attendance,  and  holding  his  hat. 
And  grinning  and  bowing  to  see  her  nod 
As  if  he  were  playing  the  ape  to  her  god. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xvii. 

FLOGGING    CHILDREN 

These  children  are  like  eggs — all  white  outside — • 
but  what  they  are  inside  you  never  know  till  you  have 
cracked  them  {giving  bertha  a  box  on  the  ears). 

....  Oh,  now,  please,  not  that!  I  want  to  gain 
her  confidence. 

....  Her  what?  You  never  saw  my  husband 
break  a  colt.    He  starts  by  flogging. 

....  Children,  though,  have  minds;  and  what 
controls  a  mind  best  is  its  wish  and  not  our  whiplash. 
That  never  cuts  below  the  outside  skin.  I  want  to 
reach  the  soul. 

....  Well,  really,  now! — of  all  the  weak  old  women! 
But  you  can  train  your  colt  the  way  you  please;  for 
when  it  kicks,  'tvrill  not  be  in  my  circus. 

On  Detective  Duty^  V. 

FLOWER 

O,  if  as  my  life  began, 

I  had  only  bloom'd  as  a  flower, 
A  smallest  flower  in  a  vine  that  ran 

Beneath  her  feet,  or  climb'd  to  her  bower, 
She  might  have  pluck'd  me  and  held  me  tight 
In  her  warm  moist  hand,  or  pour'd  the  light 
Of  her  soul-bright  eyes  on  my  wondering  view, 
Till  with  love  they  had  burn'd  me  through  and  through. 
She  might  have  lifted,  and  coil'd  me  there, 
Caress'd  by  a  tress  of  her  trembling  hair; 


130  A  POETS  CABINET 

Or  let  me  lie  all  day  on  her  breast, 

Where  the  lace-folds  throb  like  nerves  of  the  blest; 

And  then  if  aught  I  could  be  in  that  hour, 

Or  aught  I  could  do  with  the  life  of  a  flower 

Could  add  to  the  store  of  her  charms,  and  make 

Her  form  more  fair  for  my  poor  sake, 

My  making  her  sweet  life  sweeter  seem 

Would  bring  me  a  bliss  that  I  could  not  dream. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xiv. 

FLOWERS  FOR  THE  DEAD 

We  mortals  eat. 
But  think  you  that  ghosts  deem  eating  a  treat? — 
No  hollow  within  have  they  to  fill. 
No  blood  to  flow,  no  nerve  to  thrill. 
But  get  you  flowers,  all  fresh  and  sweet, 
Of  all  things  leaving  the  world  at  death, 
There  is  nothing  of  which  we  know  but  breath. 
And  what  but  fragrance  can  they  bear 
The  whole  of  whose  bodies  are  merely  air? 

The  Last  Home  Gathering. 

FOE,  A  MAN  vs.  WOMAN 

A  man-foe  is  a  brute,  a  shark  that  whacks 

The  spirit's  prow  and  whirls  it  from  its  course. 

A  maid  may  be  a  devil  seizing  on 

The  spirit's  helm  to  turn  it  where  she  will. 

Her  victim  though — he  thinks  her  will  is  his. 

You  never  knew  a  man  to  dodge  the  touch 

Of  love-like  fingers  feeling  for  his  heart. 

That  heart  held  once  within  a  grip  so  gained. 

Will  take  each  wrench  that  wrings  its  life-blood  out 

To  be  its  own  pulsation.  The  Aztec  God,  i. 

FOES,  NOT  TO  BE  KILLED 

Who  made  me  heaven's  avenging  messenger? 

Or  bade  me  cull  for  those  high  gardeners  there 

What  grow  in  nights  of  earth  to  greet  their  dawn? 

I  should  not  know  them  foes  but  for  their  guise. 

And  what  is  all  their  alien  flesh  but  guise 

A  little  nearer  to  their  souls?     It  gone. 

What  would  they  be  but  spirits,  freed  from  space, — 

From  all  the  need  of  trampling  others  down 

To  find  a  place  to  stand  in  for  themselves? —      Idem. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  131 

FOLLY 

To  flay  a  folly  slays  it. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xlv. 

FOOL 

To  fool 
With  fools  is  feeding  folly. 
....  Feed  a  fool 

On  folly,  and  he  grows  so  fat  with  it 
That  soon  all  wisdom's  world  that  he  would  sit  on, 
Would  it  not  die  itself,  must  make  him  diet. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 

FOOLED,  IT  TAKES  A  FOOL  TO  BE 

All  men  start  Freshmen,  and,  to  learn  their  places, 
need  hazing.  So  the  Sophomores  get  their  fun — but 
yet  discriminate — put  like  with  like.  They  never 
haze  where  finding  nothing  hazy.  If  you  uncork 
men,  rid  them  of  their  brains,  you  merely  further 
what,  before  you  came,  they,  on  their  part,  were  at 
work  fermenting.  No  fun  can  make  a  fool  of  any- 
body until  he  makes  a  fool,  first,  of  himself. 

On  Detective  Duty,  11. 

FOOLS 

Fools! — Yet  without  fools,  where  were  sovereignty 
For  wise  men? — they  would  find  it  harder  work 
To  do  earth's  thinking  for  it;  harder  work 
To  string  the  nerves  that  center  in  one's  brain 
Through  all  the  mass,  and  rein  it  to  one's  will. 

Columbus,  III.,  2. 

FOOTFALLS 

Footfalls,  light  as  dreams',  may  wake  the  slumbering 

soul's  activity, 
Rouse  the  source  whence  thought  and  feeling  issue 

toward  their  destiny, — 
Toward  the  good,  if  lured  by  movements  where  a 

pathway  leads  to  weal ; 
Toward  the  ill,  if  turning  only  where  the  wiles  of  craft 

appeal.  A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  i. 

FOOTSTEPS,  IN  A  WILDERNESS  NIGHT-STORM 

....  Hark!    There  seems  human  rhythm  in  this  hell. 
What  hot  pursuit  is  it  comes  burning  through 
These  crackling  branches?  The  Aztec  God,  i. 


132  A  POETS  CABINET 

FOP 

Whose  jingling  pocket-toys 
Outweigh'd  his  brain,  a  fop  and  fawning  fool, 
Too  mean  to  join  in  others'  jokes  or  joys, 
The  gull  of  all  the  girls,  the  butt  of  all  the  boys. 
A  Life  in  Song :  Daring,  l. 

FORCE,  AND  SUCCESS  {sce  TYRANNY) 

Fanatic!     Do  you  think  in  men's  mad  rush, 
Each  toward  his  own  life's  goal,  they  wrest  the  power 
That  makes  another  serve  them,  without  work? — 
Skill?  shrewdness?  tact?  and  forcing  to  the  wall, 
Or  down  the  precipice,  each  weaker  rival? 
.  .  .  .  Ido,  if  power  that  crowns  them  come  from  God. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

FORCE,  APPLIED  TO  THE  SPIRIT 

Each  time  you  try  to  mold  a  spirit's  life 
With  fingers  grappling  from  the  fist  of  force. 
You  clutch  but  at  the  air,  at  what  is  far 
Too  fine  for  force  to  handle. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

Vain  souls, 
Trained  on  the  earth  to  influence  men  through  force. 
In  realms  where  spirits  have  not  forms  that  force 
Can  harm,  must  find  their  occupation  gone. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

FORCE,   WHEN    COMMUNICATING    TRUTH    {see   THOUGHT 

and  truth) 
No  fighting  of  error  by  force  does  aught 
But  change  the  statement  not  the  thought. 
To  ponder  and  halt 
Are  seldom  all  fault; 
A  natural  smile 
Has  in  it  no  guile; 
But  many  a  false  array  of  zeal 
Has  frightened  from  frankness,  and  so  from  weal; 
And  many  a  blast  of  pious  hate 
Been  blown  by  the  devil  to  train  his  mate. 

Love  and  Life,  XLIII. 
If  deeds  go  astray,  no  force  men  know 
Can  check  what  nature  has  made  to  flow. 
If  wrong  attract,  and  right  estrange. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  133 

Then  love  must  enter,  and  subtly  change 
What  courses  forth  from  the  soul  below. 

Idem,  XLiv. 
Naught,  forsooth. 
Thrives  less  where  force  restrains  it  than  the  truth. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xlvi. 

FORCE  TOGETHER  WITH  CARESSES 

....  You  force  the  boy,  and  he  will  use  his  fists. 
The  men  might  do  it. 

....  With  ladies? 

....  When  mosquitoes  buzz  around,  the  men  they 
sting  hit  anything  in  reach.  The  truth  is  that  your 
method  is  at  fault.  You  try  to  force  men's  actions,  and 
expect  the  sort  of  treatment  due  to  gentleness.  'Tis 
risky  work  to  ply  a  whip,  with  one  hand,  and  to  try 
caressing  with  the  other. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  iii. 

FORCE  vs.  LOVE 

The  child  is  ruled  by  love ;  grown  people  often  must 
be  ruled  by  force.  Love  using  feeling  tends  to  make 
love  perfect.    Force,  using  feeling,  tends  to  violence. 

Idem,  I. 

FORCE  vs.  NATURAL  INCLINATION 

God  gave  you  beauty — to  be  seen! 
And  grace  to  bless  this  dear,  sweet  home.    What  power 
Would  snatch  you  from  us?  make  a  very  hell 
Of  what  might  else  be  heaven? — Think  you  'tis  love? 
Not  so;  it  only  hates  love;  plays  the  part — 
Not  of  the  Christ  who  yielded  up  his  life. 
But  of  the  world  that  made  him  yield  it  up; 
It  only  trusts  in  force,  in  force  that  lies; 
And  now  that  it  can  hold  you  with  a  vow 
Which  but  deceit  could  claim  that  God  enjoin'd, 
It  seizes  you  to  plunge  you  down,  down,  down, 
To  feel  the  full  damnation  of  a  faith 
That  can  believe  the  voice  within  the  soul 
A  lying  guide  which  cannot  be  obey'd 
Without  foul  consciousness  of  inward  sin, — 
To  plunge  you  down,  and  hold  you  till  the  cells 
Of  your  pure,  guileless  heart,  all  stain'd  and  steep'd, 
Drip  only  dregs  of  stagnant  viciousness!       Haydn,  LI. 


134  A  POETS  CABINET 

FOREIGN  HUSBANDS 

....  Everything  will  be  all  right  again.  Think  of 
it,  mother,  all  right  again! 

....  Yes ;  you  will  have  become  a  Countess — 

....  And  have  gotten  rid  of  the  Count;  and  then 
have  become  an  American  again  with  an  American 
husband ! 

....  You  think  that  last  possession  particulariy 
desirable? 

....  You  wouldn't  ask  that,  if  j'^ou  knew  as  much 
as  I  do  about  foreign  husbands. 

Where  Society  Leads,  ill. 

FOREIGN  TRAVEL 

Friends  came  and  urged  him,  other  aims  displacing, 
To  court  the  favors  of  a  foreign  shore. 

Assuring  him  that  there  the  airs  more  bracing 

Would  kindle  in  his  veins  the  healthful  heat  of  yore. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxii. 

FORGIVENESS,    A    SENSE    OF 

....  Your  faith  means  faith  that  God  forgives. 

If  he  forgive  you,  wh}''  not  feel  forgiven? 

....  Though  the  Lord  forgive, 

In  spirit  how  can  spirits  feel  forgiven 

Ere  they  undo  the  wrong  their  lives  have  wrought? 

Ere  this  had  been  undone,  not  even  laws 

Of  Moses  let  the  trespasser  receive 

The  benefit  of  sacrifice;  and  how 

Could  heavenly  joys  crown  even  perfect  love 

Save  as  it  served  the  soul  it  once  had  harmed? 

....  But  how  and  where  can  spirits  right  their 

wrong  ? 
....  Wherever  spirits  influence  the  spirit. 
....  Ah,   then,    through   others'   lives   they   work 

their  work? 
....  Perchance  they  may;  perchance  they  may  do 

more.  Cecil  the  Seer,  il.,  2. 

FORM  and  FORMS  {see  significance) 
"Yet  none,"  he  soon  had  said,  "could  really  solve 
All  riddles  hidden  in  the  forms  outlined 
By  nature's  curves  and  angles,  or  amid 
The  play  of  her  fair  features,  made  more  fair, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  I35 

Like  human  faces,  by  the  thoughts  beneath, 
Read  all  that  so  has  thrill'd  in  every  age 
The  spirits  of  the  wisest  and  the  best." 

A  Life  in  Song:  Prelude. 
Yield  in  form  you  say? — 
In  form  our  frames  but  vehicle  the  truth; 
Yet  by  its  vehicle  the  world  will  rate  it. 
When  comes  the  splendor  of  a  monarch's  march 
Men  cheer  his  chariot,  not  his  character. 
Should  I  let  mine  trail,  broken,  bruised,  bemired, 
The  world  would  hiss  both  car  and  occupant. 

Dante,  ill.,  2. 
Only  fools  have  faith 
In  forms  they  have  not  wit  to  find  unfrocked. 
Not  sages  even  see  the  spirit  through  them. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 
The  ringing  strings  within  his  harpsichord 
Would  seem  to  call  toward  form  that  formless  force 
Enrapturing  so  the  spirit.  Haydn,  x. 

"Alas,  how  many  a  thought,"  he  said  at  last, 
"Whose  accents  reach  us  through  the  rustling  blast, 
Or  meaning  seems  inscribed  in  circling  rills, 
And  outlines  of  the  rocks,  the  trees,  the  hills, 
Is  void  of  purport  to  the  soul  whose  eyes 
Have  never  yet  been  taught  to  know  and  prize 
The  purpose  underneath!     Forms  can  impart 
Their  import  only  to  a  feeling  heart. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  ix. 

FORM  AND  SPIRIT  {see  DOUBT,  REGALIA,  RITES, 

RITUALISM,  and  spirit) 
As  if,  forsooth,  a  mere  material  guise 
Could  ever  veil  the  spirit  from  the  eyes 
Of  Him  men  worship,  or,  by  outward  show, 
Atone  for  wrong  still  strong  in  souls  below. 
Can  it  be  true  that  sin  can  disappear 
From  lives  made  right  but  to  the  eye  and  ear? 
What  can  their  spirits  be  but  dead,  indeed, 
Who  neither  feel  their  faith  nor  think  their  creed? 

Idem,  XLix. 
The  Spirit  formed  the  forms 
To  fit  the  life? — they  fitted  life  that  was; 


136  A  POET'S  CABINET 

But  life,  if  life,  will  grow ;  the  life  of  love 

Has  not  yet  fill'd  the  scope  around,  above. 

Of  heavens  that  for  it  wait.     What  form'd  the  forms 

Can  still  be  forming  them. — If  forms  exist 

Wherein  no  Spirit  works,  no  present  life, — 

The  things  are  hollow.  Haydn,  Li. 

Our  faith  in  forms  may  trust  a  God-void  shrine, 
Where  nothing  that  is  worshiped  is  divine; 
May  look  to  human  systems,  made  to  fit 
Not  all  the  truth,  but  only  part  of  it. 
To  finite  frames  wherein  the  infinite  lies 
Defined  so  well  that,  in  the  compromise 
Betwixt  the  faith  and  form,  whate'er  we  view, 
Contracted,  cHpp'd,  and  only  halfway  true, 
Is  wholly  harm'd. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  XLVI. 
A  hollow  form 
The  Devil  flies  for,  like  a  flying  squirrel 
For  hollow  tree-trunks ;  and  when  once  within, 
But  half  disguised  inside  his  robes  of  white, 
Loud  chanting  out  mere  ceremonious  cant, 
He  tempts  toward  his  hypocrisy  an  age 
That  knows  too  much  of  Christian  life,  at  last, 
For  heathen  life  to  tempt  it.  Haydn,  Li. 

FORMALISTS,  AND  THEIR  CONVERSION 

It  seems  that  even  formalists  like  him 

Can  see  some  spirit  through  a  form_;  but  what? — 

One  time  upon  a  mountain  top,  I  saw 

My  own  shape  magnified  on  clouds  about  me. 

How  many  men  in  earth's  high  places  find. 

Looming  on  clouds  of  false  regard  about  them, 

False  forms  of  self,  distorted  in  their  size! 

To  waken  such  to  their  own  true  position. 

Thank  heaven  for  precipices!     When  they  fall, 

Their  views  of  God  and  self,  turned  upside  down, 

May  bring,  at  last,  conversion. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

FORTUNES,  ACCUMULATING 

What  men  term  fortune  grows  like  a  snowball, 
slowly  at  the  start,  but  gathers  faster  as  its  weight 
gets  greater.  The  Two  Paths,  i. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  137 

FOUNDATIONS 

Hard    strove    the    youth,    aye    feeling,    while    he 
wrought, 
That  but  from  deep  foundations,  grand  in  size. 

Life-structures  rose  like  that  for  which  he  sought ; 
And,  tho'  he  oft  would  think  this  ne'er  could  rise. 
Anon  in  visions  fair  he  saw  it  fill  the  skies. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  Liv. 

FRAME,  HUMAN 

Ah  now,  my  frame,  you  are  dear  to  me. 
What  else  below  or  above 
Could  ever  appear 
So  deeply  dear? 
What  else  could  I  wish  to  have  or  be? — 
For  ah,  you  have  won  her  love. 

O  new-found  bliss  of  an  earthly  birth; 
This  frame  may  be  but  sod ; 
But  sod  or  soul 
She  loves  the  whole 
That  I  am,  nor  another  could  have  such  worth; 
I  would  rather  be  man  than  God. 

Idem:  Loving,  xliv. 

FRANCE 

But  thou,  our  country's  friend,  and  valor's  own, 

O  France,  rash  champion  in  all  conquests  new. 
Who  has  not  bow'd  when  dazed  before  thy  throne, 

Nor  feared  on  it  to  find  a  tyrant  too? 
Top-wave,  thou  art,  where  flows  our  civilization; 

Thy  white  crest  shows  the  wind  that  sweeps  the  sea, 
A  courtier's  dress  or  country's  devastation, 

Whate'er  our  fashions  be,  they  all  are  set  by  thee. 

And  some  are  wise  ones!     Would  all  homes  could 
own 

The  courtesies  that  grace  the  Frenchman's  pride. 
Alas,  our  own  forms  oft  repeat  alone 

What  apes  and  parrots  might,  as  well,  have  tried. 
Defects  we  have,  but  overdo  confession 

Who  shroud  our  own  home-life  in  foreign  ways. 
And,  short  of  thought,  intent  on  long  expression, 

Curve   into    devious    French   each   straight-aim'd 
Saxon  phrase. 


138  A  POETS  CABINET 

Forgive  us,  France,  if  fools  or  fashion-plates 

Have  made  us  rank  thee  foremost  but  in  arts 
Disguising  well  a  world  of  worthless  traits: 

True  worth  hast  thou  within  thy  heart  of  hearts. 
And  hadst  thou  only  wrought  us  works  of  beauty 

Earth's  unattractive  forms  to  guise  and  glove. 
Still  beauty  in  this  world  ranks  next  to  duty. 

And  those  who  make  life  lovely  next  to  those  who  love. 

But  grander  arts  embodying  grander  thought 

Amid  thine  architectural  glories  throng; 
And,  where  the  painter's  brush  so  well  has  wrought. 

Thine  orators  have  well  denounced  the  wrong. 
Let  them  as  well  renounce  all  wrong  ambition, 

Lest  with  some  later  revolution  cursed 
Their  genius,  like  the  lightning,  fire  its  mission 

By  brilliant  strokes  that  but  make  dire  the  gloom 
they  burst.  Idem :  Serving,  liv-lvii. 

FRANK 

And  yet  if  love  must  love  the  soul, 
What  power  more  lovely  can  control 
The  men  we  meet,  than  words  and  ways 
So  frank  and  open  all  can  gaze 
On  thought  behind  the  outward  phase! 
While  every  eye  serene  and  bright, 
Transparent  with  the  inward  light, 
Reveals  what  thrills  angelic  sight! 

Idem:  Doubting,  XXIX. 

A  time  there  was  I  thought  mankind 
Had  all  an  inborn  right  to  find 
How  truth  appeal'd  to  every  mind. 
How  noble  is  the  task,  I  thought, 
When  one  has  wisdom  gain'd  in  aught, 
To  show  what  he  has  thus  been  taught! 
And  this  to  do,  my  every  nerve 
I  strain''d  and  pain'd,  so  all  might  serve 
For  men  to  harp  on.    But  the  strings 
I  held  to  them  were  scarce  the  things 
For  them  to  harp  on  with  content. 
Men  guess  not  oft  the  whole  truth  meant 
By  words  that  voice  another's  thought. 

Idem,  XXXI. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  139 

FRANKNESS    {see  CONCEALMENT,    DECEPTION   and 

truth) 
When  young,  not  few  had  found  his  ways  too  old; 
When  older,  few  had  found  them  not  too  young. 
His  friends  for  his  reserve  oft  thought  him  cold; 

His  foes  thought  all  he  knew  was  on  his  tongue. 
Yet  ever  for  a  true  demean  ambitious, 

His  greatest  virtue  proved  his  greatest  fault. 
Oft  men,  adepts  in  vice,  would  deem  him  vicious. 
Because  no  guile's  discretion  made  his  frankness  halt. 

Idem:  Serving,  v. 
A  man  who  cannot  bear  abuse 
Would  better  live  a  mere  recluse, 
Than  turn  his  own  soul  inside  out 
Because,  forsooth,  men  stand  in  doubt 
Of  what  he  thinks  the  most  about. 
Alas,  where  foes  our  souls  assail. 
Not  all  can  conquer,  stript  of  mail. 
What  spurs  the  firm  may  wound  the  frail. 

Idem:  Doubting,  xxxil. 

FRANKNESS,  ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  OTHERS 

If  they're  so  frank  with  you,  you  can  be  frank  with 
them.  A  little  unalloyed  truth  from  the  inside  of  your 
brain  transferred  to  the  inside  of  theirs  might  work 
like  leaven,  and  do  them  good. 

....  Why  try  to  force  medicine  down  a  throat 
that's  always  throwing  up !  I  have  as  much  as  I  can 
do  trying  to  dodge  the  output. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  11. 
Thank  God  that  lips  tell  not  what  hate  might  say. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 
If  but  the  truth  of  love  a  soul  should  tell 
What   hearts    might  break,  what  homes  become  a 

hell! 
If  touched  by  ardor  of  one's  brightest  aims, 
How  black  his  earth  might  scorch  beside  the  flames! 

Idem. 

FREEDOM,  INDIVIDUAL  {see  INDEPENDENCE) 

Ah,  when  shall  mortals  learn 
That  truth  is  grander  than  the  earthly  urn 
To  which  they  would  confine  it,  or  conceive 


I40  A  POETS  CABINET 

That  wisest  lav/s  in  states  or  churches  leave 
Each  man  to  govern  rightly  his  own  soul 
And  thus,  through  practice,  nurture  self-control? 
A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xlvi. 

Whate'er  old  age  may  need,  needs  it  the  most 

The  young  who  old  have  grown  before  their  time? — 

Need  sick  men  nurses  pale? — or  poor  men,  those 

Whose  moods  have  never  stored  the  rich  results 

Mined  from  a  world  the  world's  heir  should  explore? — 

Nay,  nay,  these  all  would  be  more  ably  served 

By  spirits  free  to  live  their  own  love's  life. 

Haydn,  XLI. 
Oh  you  who  prate  of  freedom, 
In  home,  in  state,  in  church, 
If  any  realm  could  grant  your  wish. 

It  would  not  end  your  search. 
The  place  where  most  men  like  to  be 

Is  where  with  most  they  mingle; 
And  such  a  place  none  ever  see 

So  long  as  they  keep  single ; 
Nay,  those,  in  all  they  care  about. 
Who  always  leave  their  neighbors  out, 

Find  life  not  worth  this  jingle: — 
Oh,  you  may  call  that  being  free, 
But  it  does  not  seem  free  to  me. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  v. 

FREEDOM    IN    STATE    AND   CHURCH 

Not  mountain  chains,  nor  streams  that  cleave  the  plains. 
Nor  the  wide  ocean  that  around  them  rolls 
Can  bound  the  realm  of  Freedom's  loyal  sotds 
Who  serve  the  Spirit  that  above  it  reigns. 
Not  the  mean  few  who  snatch  for  selfish  gains 
Through  pathways  opening  toward  the  noblest  goals 
Can  shake   Heaven's   children's  faith   that  Heaven 

controls 
That  life  the  most  which  Earth  the  least  enchains. 

Expansion. 

Yet  oh,  how  dear  thy  sons,  where'er  they  stray, 
Hold  thee,  our  own  just  Land,  in  memory! 

Where  every  set  and  sect  may  have  their  say. 
And  worth  alone  insures  nobility ; 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  141 

"Where  thrill  the  breasts  of  freedom's  humble  mothers, 
Who  feel  their  offspring  have  but  God  to  serve, 

And  in  the  race  they  run  with  common  brothers, 
May  win  whatever  crown  of  life  their  lives  deserve. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  Lix. 

But  trust  me,  friend,  wherever  lifting  skies 
Impel  deep  slumbering  souls  to  wake  and  rise 
And  press  toward  nobler  things  that  then  they  view, 
The  church  or  nation  that  there  lets  them  do 
Their  best  to  make  their  best  ideals  true, 
Brings  forth  more  worth  from  every  character 
Than  all  the  rites  and  codes  that  ever  were. 

Idem:  Seeking,  XLiv. 

God's  laws  are  inward,  and  they  most  control 
Those  left  most  free  to  serve  what  moves  the  soul; 
But  what  earth's  rulers  force  men  to  fulfill 
Oft  flows  from  but  one  headstrong  human  will. 

Idem. 

All  in  vain  men  sigh  for  freedom,  heedless  where  its 

boons  begin; 
Life  is  one;  and  souls  are  never  free  without  till  free 

within. 

Men  must  learn  of  wiser  action;  all  their  aims  must 
nobler  be. 

Love  for  all  mankind  must  rule  them,  ere  their  laws 
can  leave  them  free. 

Only  when  the  right  impels  them,  will  they  cease  their 
long  complaints; 

Only  love  for  every  duty  moves  unconscious  of  re- 
straints. 

Only  when  no  malice   moves  them  can  the  fetters 
clank  no  more; 

Only  love  in  every  heart  can  open  every  prison-door. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xi. 

FREEDOM :  THE  FIGHT  FOR 

Crowds  and  shoutings 
Can  never  end  our  strife. 
But  sadder  scenes  and  sounds  await 
Our  loss  of  wealth  and  life. 


142  A  POETS  CABINET 

The  structures  fair  of  freedom 

Men  rear  beneath  the  sky, 
Press  down  on  deep  foundations, 

Where  thousands  buried  lie. 
Our  course  we  well  may  ponder: 

Hope's  rainbow  in  the  cloud 
May  lure  a  march  beneath  its  arch 
To  flash  and  bolt  and  shroud. 

The  Lebanon  Boys  in  Boston. 
The  course  of  one  born  humble  as  themselves. 
Who  yet  attained  the  end  of  highest  aims 
As  grand  as  any  land  or  age  e'er  sought, 
Because  his  plans  when  struggling  toward  the  light 
Emerged  where  freemen  leave  to  God  and  heaven 
The  right  to  rule  the  spirit  though  on  earth. 

A  Life  in  Sotig:  Finale. 

FREE  SCHOOLS  AND  HOMES 

Oiir  schools  are  schools  where  poor  men's  boys  can 
learn  to  act  like  gentlemen. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  V. 
We  love  the  schools  that  rear  us, 

Their  learning  free  as  light. 
And  laws,  if  truth  loom  near  us, 
That  let  men  use  their  sight ; 
Where  each  can  helm  his  own  soul's  thought, 
When,  drawn  by  Heaven,  the  Inward  Ought 
Points,  compass-like,  to  right. 

America,  our  Home. 

FREE  SPEECH 

And  in  a  land  where  speech  is  free  as  thought 
Whoe'er  do  wrong,  erelong,  will  find  their  ruin  wrought. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  vii. 

FRESH,  IN  EXPERIENCE 

A  little  rill  just  starting  from  a  spring 

Could  not  be  quite  so  gushing  fresh  as  you  are! 

I  love  you,  boy;  but  when  the  rill  has  rubbed 

A  little  more  of  soil  from  both  its  banks 

'Twill  have  more  substance  if  not  quite 

So  much  transparency.  Dante,  I.,  I. 

FRICTION,  AS  A  SOURCE  OF  LIGHT 

The  first  man  in  the  world  who  had  no  light  made 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  143 

it  by  making  friction;  and,  to-day,  when  wanting 
more  light,  most  men  do  the  same.  At  times,  the 
friction  sets  their  thoughts  aglow.  At  times,  it  frays 
them  into  splinters;  but  the  splinters  make  choice 
kindling  too ;  and  so  the  worid  at  large  keeps  getting 
more  light  still,  and  by  that  light,  men  walk. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

FRIEND  and  FRIENDS 

Amid  the  traits  of  multitudes 

The  Maker  speaks  through  many  moods 

Of  truths  that  are  not  understood 

By  those  who  by  themselves  do  brood. 

And  better  be,  in  lone  despair, 

Some  king's  court  fool,  astride  a  chair, 

Who  dreams  he  rules  a  kingdom  there, 

With  stock-still  statues  his  hussars. 

And  scarfs  of  Knighthood,  but  the  scars 

Deep-whipt  across  his  bleeding  back. 

Than  be  a  man  whose  life  must  lack 

The  love  that  waits  on  friendship's  throne. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxvi. 
"What  is  a  friend?"  I  ask'd. 

"What  else,"  he  said, 
"But,  in  a  world,  where  all  misjudge  one  so, 
A  soul  to  whom  one  dares  to  speak  the  truth?" 

Haydn,  xxvii. 
For  all  our  worth  is  crown'd  alone. 
When  friends  have  made  our  cause  their  own. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxvi. 
I,  not  for  future  gain. 
For  what  he  may  become,  would  prize  my  friend; 
I  prize  the  thing  he  is;  nor  wish  him  changed. 
I  would  not  dare  disturb  for  aught  besides 
The  poise  of  traits  composing  sj^mpathy, 
Which,  as  they  are,  so  balance  my  desires. 
Ah,  did  I  chiefly  prize  the  profit  gain'd 
Or  promised  me,  where  were  my  present  joy? — 
Nay,  nay,  that  love  I,  which  I  find  possess'd. 

Haydn,  xxi. 
But  love  in  heaven  is  always  just; 
And  so  I  think  I  would  not  trust, 


144  A  POET'S  CABINET 

But  fear  a  friend,  by  day  or  night, 
Whose  love  contain'd  no  love  of  right. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxvii. 
Why,  we  were  like  two  arms  that  limb  one  frame, 
Two  hands  that  ply  one  work,  two  eyes  that  trace 
One  onward  path,  two  ears  that  heed  the  same 
Inciting  cry,  two  steeds  that  lead  the  race 
Yoked  to  one  car,  twin  rivals  for  one  aim, — 
To  think  my  friend  base,  I  myself  were  base. 

The  Lost  Friend. 
The  same  boat  floats  you  both. 
You  pull  together.    Friends  are  worth  the  having 
Who  best  can  serve  themselves  when  serving  us. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 
A  friend  grows  grain  and  chaff.    Sift  out  the  first 
And  cultivate  it  well,  some  gain  may  come — 
Some  profit  from  your  friendship.     "But,"  said  I, 
"If   you   should  change  yoxirself  who  change  your 

friend. 
Or  change  but  his  relations  to  yourself. 
Or,  some  way,  make  a  new,  strange  man  of  him?" 

Haydn,  xx. 
Our  friends,  at  times,  are  parasites. 
Who  drain  our  strength,  to  crawl  to  heights 
On  which  they  thrive  on  others'  rights. 
At  times,  not  made  for  light,  they  spring, 
As  fits  an  upstart  underling, 
Beneath  the  shade  our  branches  bring. 
In  either  case,  it  scarce  would  suit 
Their  aims,  to  bear  the  best  of  fruit. 
The  usual  yield  that  fills  the  stalk 
Is  promissory  buds  of  talk. 
Or  gossip-tales — which  spring  around, 
If  low-lived  friends  gain  slightest  ground, 
Like  toadstools  where  decay  is  found. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxx. 

FRIENDS,  PARTING  OF 

And  so  these  friends  of  mine,  so  prized  of  old, 
And  I  had  parted, — not  as  friends  would  part, 
With  love's  high  zenith  fever'd  like  the  skies 
Where  eve  has  rent  from  them  a  fervid  sun, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  145 

Then  cool'd  and  calm'd  in  starlight  sprinkled  thick 
Until  the  sun  come  back.    We  crack'd  apart, 
Like  icebergs  drifting  southward,  join'd  no  more, 
And  sunn'd  alone  the  while  they  melt  away. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xli. 

FRIENDS   AND   FOES 

Nay,  light, 
It  trails  the  shadow.    It  is  those  with  friends 
Are  sure  of  foes ;  and  only  those  with  neither 
Are  sure  of  neither.  Columbus,  11.,  i. 

FRIENDS,  AND  LOSS 

It  is  worth  some  loss 
To  learn  we  own  some  friends. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 

FRIENDS,  FOOLISH 

The  pull  that  lifts  one  by  a  rotting  rope 

Is  far  less  dangerous  than  the  help  that  comes 

From  foolish  friends.  Dante,  11.,  i. 

FRIENDS'  FRIENDS 

I  never  hope  my  friends'  friends  to  be  my  friends. 
Those  we  meet  all  look  at  us  from  different  points  of 
view.  Some  like  our  fronts,  and  some  our  sides,  and 
some  our  backs.  Some  think  our  eyes  are  heavenly; 
and  some  our  touch ;  and  some — the  most  of  women — 
can  never  look  beyond  the  clothes  we  wear. 

The  Two  Paths,  11. 

FRIENDSHIP 

It  seem'd  a  rare  and  royal  friendship,  oiirs, 

The  very  sovereignty  of  sympathy; 

Begun  so  early  too — mere  lads  we  were — 

And  now  I  never  look  back  there  again 

But,  swept  like  shading  from  a  hero's  face 

In  pictures, — those  of  Rembrandt, — all  the  school 

Appear  in  hues  of  dim  uncertainty 

Surrounding  Elbert,  shining  in  relief. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  i. 

'Tis  well  to  sow  the  seeds  of  friendship  when  the 
sun  is  shining  on  your  summer,  then,  when  your 
fall  comes,  they  bear  fruit. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  v. 


146  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Friendship's  light 
Reflects  but  what  is  kindled  in  ourselves. 
Extinguish  it  within,  and  soon  without 
We  find  our  worid  in  darkness. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

FRIENDS,  OLD 

When  people  have  been  brought  up  together,  they 
are  like  two  trees  that  grow  near  each  other  in  the 
same  forest.  You  can  hardly  distinguish  the  branches 
and  leaves  of  the  one  from  those  of  its  neighbor.  All 
seem  to  belong  together.  So  with  the  thoughts,  feelings, 
actions  of  these  old  friends.  They  can  sympathize  and 
help  one  another,  as  is  impossible  for  those  who  have 
hitherto  been  strangers.        Where  Society  Leads,  in. 

FRIEND  TO  ONESELF 

No  best  friend  ever  seems  a  friend  to  one  not 
friendly  to  himself.  The  Little  Twifi  Tramps,  i. 

FRIGHT  AND  FUN 

It  struck  us  all,  I  think,  as  waves  do  when  they 
splash  at  parties  rowing  in  a  yawl,  and  seem  about  to 
swamp  them;  but,  when  passed,  seem  memories  to 
laugh  at.  The  Two  Paths,  ii. 

FRUITAGE 

.  .  .  .  Who  knows  the  fruitage  of  the  seed  he  plants? — 
Like  seed,  like  fruit. 

....  The  seed  was  very  small. 

.  .  .  .  The  fruitage  large? — Yet  both  were  one  in  kind. 

The  Aztec  God,  in. 

FRUIT  OF  LOVE 

You  remind  me  of  the  fruit  we  watch  in  summer, 
growing  rosier  the  longer  we  delay  in  plucking  it ! 

The  Two  Paths,  I. 

FUGITIVE,  A 
Amid  the  darkness  of  the  night. 
Two  star-like  eyes,  a  gown-cloud  white, 
And,  just  above,  like  phantom  rays, 
Gray,  bony  fingers  met  my  gaze. 
What  skeleton  had  sought  my  side? — 
"In  God's  name  who  are  you?"  I  cried; 
And,  wind-like  came  a  ghostly  hiss, 
"In  God's  name,  let  me  tell  you  this. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  147 

"Someone  did  something  wrong, — a  man. 
Some  thought  his  color  dark.    He  ran. 
We  heard  a  tread,  a  hoot,  a  song. 
"What  of  it? — We  had  done  no  wrong! 
"We  never  dreamed  of  their  attack, 
For  we,  we  were  not  very  black; 
And  should  we  flee,  someone  might  say 
That  we  were  guilty — better  stay!" 

After  the  Lynching. 

FUN,    RISKY 

In  balancing  between  the  wise  and  unwise,  fun,  at 
times,  is  risky.  If  by  a  jot  the  joker  lose  his  wit,  he 
plunges  into  folly.        Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  iii. 

FUNDAMENTALS  VS.   ORNAMENTALS 

No  man  can  put  up  a  building  without  laying 
foundations.  My  work  is  in  the  mud,  you  think;  but 
wait  a  few  years.  I  am  useful  now.  By-and-by,  I  shall 
be  ornamental.  The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i. 

FUSSY,  THE 

In  the  efforts  of  art  as  of  all  human  action,  it  is 
important  to  remember  that  the  fussy  is  never  con- 
sistent with  the  dignified. 

Painting,  Sculp.,  and  Arch,  as  Rep.  Arts,  xix. 

GAMBLERS  {see  MONEY  AS  A  TOY) 

Beguiled  to  fiing  away 
The  hard-earned  token-coin  of  pay, 
Dishonoring,  in  the  craze  of  play, 
The  law  that  blesses  work. 

The  Society  Leader. 

GAMBLING,  WHEN  SEDUCED  INTO 

....  I  have  charge  of  money.  I  might  have  very 
little  left  to  have  charge  of,  if  it  were  thought  that  I  am 
in  the  habit  of  playing  with  what  I  have. 

....  Nobody  need  find  it  out. 

....  I  shall  see  that  nobody  does  find  it  out.  The 
first  thing  that  I  do  to-morrow  will  be  to  tell  those  for 
whom  I  work  exactly  what  I  have  done  to-night,  and 
let  them,  for  themselves,  judge  of  the  circumstances. 

....  And  why  should  you  do  that? 

....  So  as  not  to  seem  a  sneak,  in  case  they  learn 
of  it  from  others.  Where  Society  Leads,  11. 


148  A  POETS  CABINET 

GAMBLING,  TEMPTING  ONE  INTO 

....  I  know  quite  a  number  of  gentlemen  who 
gamble;  but  not  one  of  them  that  wouldn't  warn  off  a 
young  fellow  who  wanted  to  play  at  the  risk  of  losing 
his  business  situation. 

....  "What  do  men  do  at  their  clubs? 

....  At  most  of  them  of  which  I  know  they  draw 
up  by-laws  forbidding  gambling. 

....  I  have  played  for  money  myself  at  the  Wood- 
side  Club. 

....  Yes;  but  it  has  lady-members.  It  wouldn't 
do  to  have  by-laws  that  would  interfere  with  their 
pleasure. 

....  I  thought  that  you  were  a  member  of  the 
Players'  Club? 

....  I  am!  but  do  you  think  that  the  word 
player  means  the  same  as  gambler?  A  player 
never  can  be  the  latter  so  long  as  he  is  inside  that 
club  house. 

....  You  mean  to  tell  me  that  actors  don't 
gamble? 

....  Oh,  no;  only  that  the  majority  of  this  par- 
ticular set  of  actors  have  a  sense  of  responsibility  that 
prevents  their  allowing  conditions  that  might  induce 
others  to  gamble. 

....  What  do  they  do  on  Sundays,  when  you  are 
not  there? 

....  Oh,  on  that  day,  in  that  club,  they  are 
forbidden  to  play  any  games  at  all. 

....  Do  you  suppose  that  I  am  taking  what  you 
say  for  truth  ?  The  idea ! — Nothing  to  do  on  the  only 
day  they  have  for  recreation! 

....  Plenty  to  do,  my  dear.  The  houses  of  their 
lady-friends  on  Fifth  and  Massachusetts  Avenues  are 
wide  open;  and  they  are  not  only  welcomed  there, 
they  are  allured  to  go  to  the  devil  there  just  as  fast 
as  they  choose.  Idem. 

GARB 

Bless'd  with  beauty's  dower, 
Although  her  garb  was  plainer  than  her  neighbors', 
Her  face  made  this  unmark'd  as  leaves  beside  a 
flower.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  149 

GENERAL  EFFECTS  NOT  ACCUMULATIONS  OF  SPECIFIC 

ONES  {see  PARTS  and  suggestions) 
....  The  little  things  together  make  the  greater. 
....  No;  hardly  that.  You  never  judge  one's  face 
by  all  its  features,  but  by  the  foremost  ones;  and  not  a 
park  by  all  its  blades  and  bushes ;  but  by  a  few  things — • 
hills  or  trees  in  sunshine  that  cast  the  rest  in  shade. 
The  gods  may  find  all  life  a  sieve,  and  strain  all  wisdom 
through  it ;  but  human  beings  only  get  the  drops  that 
filter  through  an  opening,  here  and  there. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 
generalship 
Hail  to  the  ring  of  the  voice  that  taught 
Drumming  and  roaring  the  rhythm  of  thought. 

Columbus,  IV.,  2. 
generosity  with  the  ungenerous 
You  give  to  one  who  never  gives  to  others, 
He  first  will  recognize  you  as  a  dupe. 
And  then  prepare  to  treat  you  as  a  prey.    Dante,  i.,  2. 

GENIUS 

A  mind  like  his 
Glows  like  a  spark  upon  a  wintry  hearth, — 
The  brightest  promise  that  the  times  afford. 

Dante,  11.,  i. 
Oft  in  earth's  bigot-brotherhood 
The  fools  alone  are  understood. 
And  stupid  souls  alone  seem  good. 
But,  while  the  rest  are  dozing  late, 
The  genius,  quick  to  sight  his  fate, 
Will  wake  and  wish,  and  work,  and  wait, 
And  fix  his  aim  on  looming  schemes, 
Apart  from  those  that  earth  esteems, 
Else  would  he  mind  but  common  themes. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xvill. 
The  train  of  genius  marshals  everywhere 
Distrust  before  success,  and  envy  after. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 

GENTLE 

A  steed  we  drive,  a  stream  that  floods  its  banks, 
Has  not  less  force  because  its  gait  is  gentle. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 


150  A  POETS  CABINET 

GENTLEMAN 

A  gentleman  Is  one 
Who  never  does  the  unexpected. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

GENTLEMANLY   LOVE 

....  Why,  you  might  fall  in  love  with  her— 
compromise  her — injure  her  reputation. 

....  I  think  I  am  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to 
injure  a  woman  with  whom  I  fell  in  love. 

....  Oh,  I  didn't  mean  that  exactly.  Of  course, 
that  would  be  absurd.  I  meant  that  she  might  fall  in 
love  with  you. 

....  Well,  if  that  should  happen,  I  am  too  much  of 
a  gentleman,  I  hope,  to  have  much  to  do  with  a  woman 
with  whom  I  failed  to  fall  in  love  in  return. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  il. 

GENTLEMAN   THIEF 

Rather  than  not  be  thought  a  gentleman,  you  pre- 
ferred to  be  a  thief.  It's  the  way  with  a  large  number 
of  people  in  this  city.  Idem,  iv. 

GENTLEMAN  VS.   AMERICAN 

No;  he's  very  straight-laced. 
And  the  Count  is  not? 
Oh,  he's  a  perfect  gentleman. 
And  Bernard  is  not? 

Why,   not  in  the  same  way.     You  know 
Bernard  is  only  an  American.    The  Count  belongs  to 
one  of  the  oldest  families  in  Europe.    All  of  them  have 
been  gentlemen  for  generations. 
....  Who  told  you  that? 
....  Why — mother — everybody  knows  it. 
....  I  didn't  know  it. 

....  But  you — 3^ouarean  American,  and 

....  So  are  you  Winifred;  and  so  is  your 
mother. 

....  But  you  can  read  about  the  Count's  family 
in  books. 

....  Every  family  contains  some  black  sheep. 
How  do  you  know  that  he's  not  one? 

Where  Society  Leads,  ii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  151 

GENTLEMEN 

No  man  can  tell  which  curse  a  country  most; — 
Its  gentlemen  who  feel  above  all  work; 
Or  workmen  so  far  down  they  feel  beneath 
All  obligation  to  be  gentlemen. 
As  for  the  first,  heaven  grant  they  soon  find  out 
That  this  new  world  is  not  a  place  for  them. 
As  for  the  second,  if  we  plan  no  way 
To  keep  them  on  the  other  side  the  sea, 
Farewell  to  all  the  good  we  hope  for  here. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

GENTLEMEN  VS.  LADIES 

While  learning  to  be  gentlemen,  some  girls  forget 
how  to  be  ladies.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

GENTLENESS 

Perchance  we  are  wiser  for  deeds 
That  learn  from  feelings  as  much  as  from  creeds, 
When  taught  thro'  the  injuring  zeal  of  our  race 
That  gentleness  shows  a  growth  in  grace. 

Love  and  Life,  xxxviii. 

Remember  Him,  that  once  men  sacrificed, 

But  now  rules  over  souls  in  every  land. 
The  world  had  long  His  gentle  spirit  prized, 

Ere  it  had  come  to  heed  His  each  command. 

Remember  Moses: — with  his  mission  grand. 
His  meekness  was  the  trait  his  race  knew  best; 

Nor  can  our  restless  world  e'er  understand 
How  one  can  lead  it  toward  a  promised  rest 
Whose  own   soul  has    not   yet  this  promis'd   boon 
possess'd.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  LXX. 

A  few  short  leagues,  and,  calm  and  sluggish  grown, 

The  fickle  brook  has  left  the  mountain  steep; 
And  now,  no  more  in  boisterous  torrents  thrown, 

Through  fertile  fields,  flows  noiseless,  broad,  and 
deep, 

Alive  with  sails  and  lined  with  those  who  reap. 
So  may  our  lives,  altho'  no  more  allied 

To  narrow  rock-bound  brooks  that  wildly  leap. 
Send  forth  an  influence  no  less  strong  and  wide. 
Because  a  gentler  motion  moves  its  growing  tide. 

Idem,  XIII. 


152  A  POET'S  CABINET 

GENTLENESS,  THE  BASIS  OF  INFLUENCE 

The  wild  beast  may  roar.  It  is  the  gentle  horse 
and  the  faithful  dog  that  make  men  treat  the  animals 
like  friends.  The  goose  may  hiss.  It  is  the  unobtru- 
sive dove  that  draws  the  children  to  the  barnyard,  and 
makes  them  generous  with  their  grain. 

Suggestions  for  the  Spiritual  Life,  ix. 

GERMANY 

Our  friend  now  found  a  land,  where,  ere  their  weaning, 

The  children  clap  their  hands  to  classic  airs. 
And  gray-hair'd  sires,  on  canes  or  crutches  leaning, 

Hear  no  profounder  truths  than  those  which  music 
bears. 
There  flows  a  genial  force  from  things  we  see, 

Which  blends  with  subtlest  currents  of  the  mind, 
And  though  it  leaves  each  soul's  expression  free. 

It  forms  the  motive  power  that  moves  mankind. 
It  pleads  in  music,  argues  in  suggestions; 

And  bursts  to  passion  in  philosophy; 
In  lieu  of  wielding  arms,  it  merely  questions; 

And  in  the  world  it  thrives  the  most  in  Germany. 
How  blest  her  sons  whose  needs  appear  supplied, 

When  but  the  spirit's  wants  their  lives  possess; 
And,  with  its  joyous  freedom  satisfied, 

Scarce  care  for  what  the  world  would  call  success! 
Whoe'er  may  seek  for  truth  to  make  inventions 

That  strain  all  lore  through  lucre's  well-filled  sieve, 
Their  souls,  content  with  having  high  intentions, 

Rejoice  in  life  because  it  seems  a  joy  to  live, — 
A  joy  to  be  a  boy  with  endless  hope, 

A  joy  to  be  a  man,  mature  and  strong, 
By  day  augmenting  labor's  widening  scope. 

By  night  at  rest  with  "wife  and  wine  and  song." 
Let  others'  thirst  at  once  drain  pleasure's  glasses, 

The  German's  lip  first  blows  from  his  the  foam, 
And,  ere  to  sip  a  second  glass  he  passes, 

The  others  doze  in  stupor,  or  reel  raving  home. 
Yet  who  could  not  wish  here  for  less  that  bars 

The  outward  action  from  the  inward  thought; 
And  more  humanity,  and  less  hussars. 

To  further  on  the  progress  all  have  sought? 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  153 

Who  could  not  wish  for  faith  and  aspiration 

More  worldly  scope? — for  there  were  times,  one 
reads, 
When,  not  content  with  theories,  the  nation 

Led  all  mankind  to  truth  not  more  in  dreams  than 
deeds.      A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xlv-xlix. 

GETTING  AROUND  VS.  FIGHTING  A  MAN 

In  paths  where  men  and  women  go  opposite  ways 
and  meet,  I  have  seldom  known  of  a  woman  who 
could  not  get  around  a  man;  but  she  seldom  could 
get  around  a  man  she  began  by  fighting. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  iv. 

GILDING 

Wherever  people  prize  things  mainly  for  the  gilding 
you  may  be  sure  that  whatever  is  under  it  would  look 
mighty  cheap  if  it  were  not  covered  up. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  in. 

GIRLHOOD,  THE  LOVE  OF 

Ere  I  knew  of  it. 
In  budding  girlhood  even,  he  had  pluck'd 
My  blushing  love,  and  wore  it  on  his  heart; 
And  all  my  life  took  root  where  sprang  his  own. 

Haydn,  11. 

GIRLS,  THAT  USE  WHISKEY 
Been  drinking,  eh  ?     Are  fragrant  as  a  living  whiskey 
bottle!     Young  girls  whose  kisses  bring  a  breath  like 
that  we  know  are  reeking  ripe  for  anything. 

The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

GLEN,  A 

When  first  I  followed  up  thy  modest  brook, 

And  left  the  northwest  road,  and  came  on  thee. 

How  grand  thy  wood-crowned  rocks  appeared  to  be 

Whose  high-arched  foliage  heaven's  dim  light  forsook! 

But  when,  years  later,  I  came  back  to  look 

On  what  so  awed,  I  stood  amazed  to  see 

How  small  and  shrunk,  when  shorn  of  every  tree, 

Were  all  that  I  for  lofty  cliffs  mistook. 

Then,  in  my  college-town,  I  joined,  once  more. 

The  mates  I  so  had  honored  in  my  youth. 

Alas,  in  some,  no  mystery  seemed  to  lurk 

Where  heights  of  promise  had  so  loomed  of  yore! 


154  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Has  life  no  sphere  in  which  one  finds,  forsooth, 
No  wrong  to  nature  wrought  by  man's  mean  work? 

Ford's  Glen,  WiUiamstown. 

GLORY 

Brave  souls  who  in  dark  times  had  tum'd  them  where 
The  light  of  coming  good  on  earth  should  burst ; 
Nor  knew  't  would  gild  themselves  with  all  its  glory 
first.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  viii. 

GLORY,  DERIVED 

Thus  lived  I,  triumph 'd  over;  as  are  clouds 
Whereon  the  sun  sits  throned;  all  bright  are  they, 
And  bright  beneath  them  is  the  sunset  sea. 
In  splendid  serfdom  to  its  love,  my  soul, 
That  shone  with  kindling  glory,  thence  beheld 
A  kindling  glory  shine  from  all  about. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xliv. 

GLORY,  HUMAN 

Who,  think  you,  live  in  story 

That  live  for  self  alone? 
Who  care  to  spread  his  glory 
That  cares  not  for  their  own? 
In  every  strife 
That  stirs  the  pulse  to  nobler  life, 
The  man  that  has  the  thrilling  heart, 
He  plays  the  thrilling  part. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  in.,  2. 

GOALS   OF  LIFE 

Of  what  do  we  talk? — Of  the  goals  of  life. 

The  freedom  and  peace  to  be. 
When  the  good  shall  always  gain  their  strife 

With  truth  as  their  only  plea. 

We  talk  of  the  world  as  it  shall  be,  when 

Men  heed  the  spirit's  call; 
And  the  untold  worth  to  bless  them  then, 

When  heaven  shall  rule  them  all. 

We  talk  of  the  world  as  it  is,  that  strives 

With  forms  to  hide  the  heart. 
Were  it  made  by  us,  forsooth,  no  lives. 

When  at  one,  would  dwell  apart. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XL. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  155 

GOD 

Thither  thus  may  all  be  drawn,  and  find,  at  last,  that 

perfect  Love, 
Power,    Truth,    Wisdom,    Justice,    Beauty,    throned 

eternally  above; 
Find  the  Mind  that  moves  creation,  Maker,  Father, 

Saviour,  Lord. 
Source  and  Sum  and  Destination,  Life  with  which  all 
lives  accord.  Idem:  Watching,  xxxiv. 

The  stars  that  make 
High  aims  awake 
Are  but  what  Thine  eye  seest. 
The  stroke  and  stress 
That  earn  success 
Are  but  what  Thou  decreest. 
In  all  the  past 
Whose  blessings  last, 
Thy  presence  fills  the  story; 
And  all  the  gleams 
That  gild  our  dreams 
Obtain  from  Thee  their  glory. 

Columbus  J  III.,  2. 

GOD  IN  MAN 

Upon  the  man  we  call; 
But  bright  behind  the  gaze  we  greet. 
There  gleams  a  glory  yet  to  meet 
Our  souls  beholding  past  the  gloom 
Of  toil  and  trouble,  tear  and  tomb, 

The  god  beyond  it  all. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

GOD,  LOVE-MADE 

Why  should  a  soul  with  faith  sublime  as  yours 
Fear  aught? — Your  love  alone,  if  nothing  else. 
Could  here  create  of  me  the  god  you  think  me. 

Idem,  v. 

GOD,  MAN-MADE 

We  never  have  a  God  we  understand 
Until  we  learn  to  judge  Him  by  ourselves. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 
They  say  they  make  me  god. 
No,  no;  they  make  me  devil! — Would  they  could! 


156  A  POETS  CABINET 

What  happy  hours  in  hell  would  heat  the  hate 
My  heart  could  hurl  at  what  they  call  divine! 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 
....  How  does  he  seem  to  take  it? 

....  Just  like  a  god  when  made  by  man;  or,  if 
You  like  not  that,  a  man  when  made  by  a  god. — 
Is  there  much  difference  between  the  two? 

Idem. 

GOD, SON  OF 

Yes,  God. 
What  voice,  or  face,  or  form,  or  robe,  or  crown, 
Or  throne  attests  His  Presence?    Who  can  trust 
And  serve  mere  outward,  sensuous  things  like  these, 
And  not  be  all  through  life — ay,  out  of  it 
And  even  after  death — a  slave  to  sense, 
No  brother  of  the  Christ,  no  son  of  God? 

Columbus,  v.,  2. 

GODS,   THE 

Oh,  ye  that  dwell  less  in  the  earth  and  sky 
Than  in  the  meditations  of  the  mind. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  2. 
But  in  the  thrills  that  fill  the  hush 
When  naught  without  is  passing  by, 
The  gods  are  always  nigh.  Idem,  11. 

But  in  the  looks  that  on  us  gaze 
From  out  the  love-lit  human  eye 

The  gods  are  always  nigh.  Idem. 

GODWARD 

Would  men  look'd  Godward  more!     'T  would  save 

their  souls 
From  many  a  hell  that  their  own  hands  have  made. 

Haydn,  xli. 

GOLD 

Why  gold? — The  best  way  to  hypnotize  men  is 
through  twirling  a  metal  that  glitters. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  11. 

GOLD  vs.  SPIRITUAL  RICHES 

With  men  like  these,  preparing 
To  root  their  very  spirits  out  from  earth, 
That  they  may  thus  transplant  them  where  the  world 
Will  reap  a  richer  fruitage,  what  were  Spain, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  157 

Were  she  to  grudge  a  void  from  which  were  scraped 

A  paltry  heap  of  gold !    All  were  too  mean 

To  pedestal  aright  the  lasting  fame 

That  would  be  hers,  did  they  attain  their  end. 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 

GOLDEN  RULE 

We  love  the  life  that  bears  us 

Toward  all  that  seers  can  see, 
And,  led  by  hope,  prepares  us 

The  whole  world's  hope  to  be. 
When,  in  the  day  that  war  shall  cease, 
Our  Golden  Rule  shall  keep  the  peace, 

And  all  mankind  be  free. 

America,  our  Home. 

GOOD,  ACCOMPLISHED  IN  DIFFERENT  WAYS  {see  CHRIST) 

However  or  wherever  plied,  I  said. 
Real  power  for  good  owns  good  enough  to  claim 
Some  courtesy  from  Christian  charity. 
If  I  but  fling  a  stone  in  yonder  pond, 
Wherever  it  may  fall,  it  stirs  the  whole. 
So  if  I  throw  out  thought  for  mind  or  heart. 
Through  art  or  through  religion,  each  may  move 
The  whole  man  thus,  and  move  him  for  his  good. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xlvii. 
The  earth  is  not  a  heaven,  nor  man  a  saint; 
But  truths  there  are  to  which  our  faith  may  cling, 
And  trace  with  joy  some  good  in  every  thing. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xiv. 
And  so,  I  think,  although  the  wilderness. 
At  times,  a  John  in  camel's  hair  may  need, 
There  open  too,  in  ways  of  life  less  wild. 
More  ways,  where  love  may  plead  in  guise  more  soft. 
In  short,  as  long  as  one  may  choose  his  course, 
'T  is  best  we  do  what  each  can  do  the  best. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  XLVII. 

GOOD  DEEDS,  LEADING  TO  GOOD  LIFE 

It's  always  seemed  to  me  that  there's  enough  in 
people,  if  you  can  only  get  them  to  doing  good  once — 
get  them  interested  in  it — to  cause  most  of  them  to 
come  out  in  the  end  all  right. 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  iv. 


158  A  POET'S  CABINET 

GOOD,    DONE    BY    SELF 

Every  soul 
Is  proudest  of  the  good  itself  has  fathered. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 

GOOD,  THE,  FIND  GOOD  IN  OTHERS 

The  best  effect  of  being  good  oneself  is  finding 
good  in  others.  Every  mind  works  like  a  magnet 
— draws  from  all  about  it  the  thoughts  and  moods 
that  seem  most  like  its  own. 

On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

GOODNESS 

We  best  can  judge  of  some  things  by  their  source, — 
Of  days  by  daylight,  and  of  good  by  goodness. 
Heaven  sends  the  one,  and  only  heavenly  traits 
Can  bring  the  other.  Dante,  ii.,  i. 

GOSSIP 

Not  a  chum  she  knew. 
For  all  her  hints  of  news  that  she  might  tell, 
Who  found  out  all  folks  did,  and  not  one  doing  well. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  li. 

GOSSIPS 

These  gossips  all  are  scavengers 
Of  nobler  people's  characters, 
And  how  can  one  of  taste  or  sense 
Be  made,  and  yet  take  no  offence, 
The  cess-pools  of  their  confidence? 

Idem,  Doubting,  XXX. 
Mean  slanderers  of  characters. 
These  friends  that  stick  to  us  like  burrs, 
Throng  every  home,  and  boast  an  ear 
Well  hugg'd  against  one's  heart,  to  hear 
Each  secret  throb  of  hope  or  fear. 
Why  tell  they  what  they  ne'er  have  known? 
And  force  one,  since  he  cannot  own. 
To  leave  their  untrue  love  alone?        Idem,  xxxi. 

GOVERNMENT,  FORCE  THE  FUNCTION  OF 

....  To  your  conception  then  the  function  of 
the  government  is  force  that  keeps  down  outward 
wrong? 

....  Precisely,  yes. 

....  And  by  police  and  soldiers,  I  suppose? 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  159 

....  Of  course. 

....  Then  where  do  women  come  in? 

....  You? — a  man? — and  asking  that? — They 
come  in  where  there  is  a  need  of  love  and  sympathy; 
or  any  pubHc  good  that  flows  from  these.  More  work 
in  them  than  women  have  time  for  now! 

....  But  how  about  their  rights? 

....  I  think  the  rights  of  all  humanity  are  more 
important.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

GOWN,  A  woman's 

....  The  surest  place  to  hide  things  from  a  man 
is  in  a  woman's  gown.  He  doesn't  know  or  understand 
it,  and  he  dare  not  search  it. 

....  Oh,  no,  afraid  of  being  pricked  with  pins. 

The  Two  Paths y  11. 
I  had  almost  been  content  to  have  lost 
My  soul  itself,  nor  begrudg'd  the  cost. 
Had  it  brought  me  as  near  to  her,  as  were 
The  soulless  things  that  surrounded  her. 
My  moods  all  seem  to  fit  her  own, 
And  without  her  seem  so  void,  so  lone, 
I  have  learn 'd  to  envy  her  senseless  gown 

That  never  knows  it  is  bless'd, 
Yet  all  day  long  moves  up  and  down 
With  the  laughing  or  sighing  that  heaves  her  breast, 
And,  clasping  tight  in  its  folds  embraced 
The  neck  so  white,  and  the  tender  waist, 
Keeps  clinging  close  to  the  frame  so  sweet, 
And  fluttering  in  and  out  to  meet 
The  dear,  dear  touch  of  the  dainty  feet. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xii. 

GRACE 

He  lived,  with  restless  eyes  and  merry  voice 

And  yielding  ways,  whose  yielding  gave  them  grace. 

Idem:  Daring,  lvi. 
Her  name  was  Grace,  and  gracious  was  her  mien; 
And  graces  everywhere  attended  her 
Through  jars  and  joys  of  journeys  afterward. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  XLV. 

GRATITUDE 

Gratitude  is  a  spring  whose  flow  is  measured,  not  by 


l6o  A  POETS  CABINET 

that  which  falls  upon  it  from  without,  but  by  that 
which  is  already  stored  in  the  depths  within. 

The  Function  of  Technique. 

GREAT  AND   SMALL  MEN   SIMILARLY  CONDITIONED 

You  may  think  that  you  are  a  great  man,  and  that 
I  am  a  very  small  one.  But  if  one  can't  jump  on 
another  like  an  elephant,  he  can  like  a  flea,  and, 
where  the  flea  goes,  there,  in  this  case,  at  least,  will 
go  the  flesh  he  feeds  on. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  iv. 

GREED  FOR  GOLD 

Oh,  what  a  worm 
Is  greed  for  gold!    Did  ever  human  fruitage 
Turn  into  rot  but  this  greed  gnawed  the  core? — 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

GRIEF 

You  think  that  veins  too  heavy  weighed  with  grief 
May  empty  then  through  talk  as  well  as  tears. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 

GRIEF,  ALTERNATION  IN  EXPERIENCE  OF 

At  times  my  soul  appears  a  stormy  sea, 

All  rage  below  and  rain  above;  at  times 

It  seems  the  tears  I  shed  have  drained  me  dry, 

And  left  a  void  too  deep  for  faith  in  God 

Or  man  to  fill.  Idem,  ii.,  2. 

GROUPED,  MANKIND  ARE 

....  Do  you  know, you  look  so  much  like  an  old 
friend  I  used  to  have.  Oh,  yes,  and  we  were  intimate, 
oh,  very!  I  sometimes  think  that  men — like  animals, 
say,  foxes,  dogs,  and  cats 

....  And  jackasses? 

....  Ha!  ha! — are  grouped;  and  half  the  joy  of 
life  depends  on  finding  which  group  is  one's  own. 

The  Two  Paths,  III. 

GROVE    BY  MOONLIGHT 

Thence    wandering    forth    one    still    clear    night    I 

found 
Beneath  the  moon  that  rose  up,  large  and  round, 
Through  vistas  opening  like  some  temple's  aisles. 
Great  trees  that  arched  the  moveless  air  for  miles. 
Their  spreading  boughs,  like  shadowy  rafters,  lined 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  i6i 

A  star-filled  dome,  and  oft,  where  foliage  twined 

In  leafy  fretwork  round  each  trailing  limb, 

Flash'd  bright  with  dew.    Beneath  them,  fair  though 

dim, 
About  the  trees'  wide  trunks,  in  half  seen  bowers, 
And  pushing  up  through  paths  I  trod,  were  flowers. 
I  seem'd  their  nature's  lord;  for,  when  my  feet 
Would  crush  them  as  I  pass'd,  they  grew  more  sweet. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  ii. 

With  gratitude  for  each  toy-touch  of  air 
At  play  on  my  knit  brow,  I  rested  there. 
But  while  I  rested,  lo,  a  stranger's  form 
Push'd  through  the  white  bars  of  the  moonlight  warm. 

Idem  J  V. 

GROW 

It  strikes  me,  friend,  that  all  things  truthful  grow. 
E'en  love  outgrows  the  fashion  of  its  youth: — 
The  world  whirls  on  apace ;  and  different  hues 
Turn  toward  the  noonday-sun.    No  dawn  returns. 
What  form  or  color  robes  the  infinite? — 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LV. 

GROWLING 

Dogs  are  not  the  only  brutes  that  growl  when  waked. 
Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

GUARDIAN  SPIRIT,  THE 

You  and  I  have  loved  supremely, — yet 

Our  love  has  loved  another. — Could  this  be 

Of  that  form  which  we  walked  with  in  our  dreams? 

....  Why 

....  Did  you  ever  think  that  all  our  dreams 

Are  in  ourselves;  and  this  form  too  may  be  there? 
They  say  that  human  brains,  ay,  all  our  frames 
Are  doubled. — If  so,  why? — For  use? — then  whose? 
Who  is  it  twins  existence  with  us  here? 
Can  it  be  our  own  real,  live,  better  self 
Which  under  consciousness  we  vaguely  feel 
Dreams  while  we  wake    and   wakes    the   while  we 

dream. 
Recalls  what  we  forget,  incites  and  is 
Less  form  than  spirit,  but,  because  a  spirit, 
Heaven's  representative,  our  guardian,  guide, 


162  A  POET'S  CABINET 

And  all  that  tells  of  God?    You  know  all  praise 

The  men  dependent  only  on  themselves. 

Yet  why? — Is  it  so  noble  to  be  free 

From  love,  or  wish  for  love?    Or  own  these  men 

A  subtle  consciousness  of  nobler  love 

Which,  in  the  spirit-life,  is  all  in  all? 

Know  they  that  earthly  forms  which  seem  divine 

But  image  that  within  which  is  divine? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  2. 

GUESSES 

Men's  guesses  are  like  their  gifts.  I  have  found 
they  are  often  bait  on  a  hook  and  line  thrown  out 
to  draw  inward  toward  themselves. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  ill. 

GUIDING    BY    FOLLOWING 

I  have  learned  that  most  of  those  that  are  obscure 
guide  others  best  when,  like  a  rudder,  they  are  follow- 
ing them.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

GUILT 
Allow'd  to  grow. 
The  germs  of  guilt,  like  those  of  disease. 
Prove  deadly  because  they  seem  so  small. 

Love  and  Life,  xvii. 

GUILT,  REVEALED  BY  GOOD  TALK 

The  one  best  proof  that  men  are  guilty,  friend,  comes 
when  they  talk  as  if  they  were  too  good. 

The  Two  Paths,  ill. 

HALF-HEARTED 

No  weak,  half-hearted  love  can  be 
The  noblest  love,  or  the  love  for  me. 
The  power  supreme  on  the  spirit's  throne 
If  it  reign  at  all,  must  reign  alone. 
What  fills  my  soul  with  its  claims  divine, 
Like  God  whose  image  it  forms  in  mine, 
Can  never  clasp  to  a  full-thrill'd  heart 
A  love  that  can  only  love  in  part. 
The  pulsing  heat  of  my  life's  desire 
Is  the  glowing  light  of  a  growing  fire, 
Whose  flames  in  the  form  on  which  they  fall 
Must  all  be  quench 'd,  or  bum  it  all. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxvil. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  163 

HAND 

If  only  a  moment  I  could  but  stand 

And  hold  in  my  own  her  soft  warm  hand, 

And  under  her  rustling  robe  could  hear 

The  breath  that  proved  that  her  soul  was  near, 

I  never  could  ever  have  doubts  again 

That  God  can  live  in  the  frames  of  men. 

Idem,  XIII. 

HAND-CUFFED 

A  single  bracelet  is  enough,  men  think, 
To  show  a  common  gratitude.    But  we, 
Why,  we  have  two !    They  think  their  debt 
To  us  a  doubled  one !     How  it  will  thrill 
Ambition  in  the  future  sons  of  Spain 
To  learn  what  badges  of  true  servitude 
Await  the  souls  that  serve  her  best.     We,  we, 
Who  made  of  Spain  the  Empress  of  the  West, 
Have  weightier  honors  waiting  us, — to  be 
The  slaves  that,  crushed  to  earth,  will  pedestal 
The  towering  contrast  of  her  sovereignty. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

HARMONY  {see  music) 
This  chant  as  rare  in  harmony 

As  if  all  the  souls  that  sang,  had  melted  into  melody. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  XL. 

More  sweet  than  heavenly  harps  are  hearts, 

When  love  her  low  throb  in  them  starts; 

More  sweet  than  sweetest  songs,  when  sung, 

Are  harmonies  of  deed  and  tongue 

Where  two  together  think  as  one. 

Alas,  and  what  have  my  moods  done 

To  part  me  so  from  all  my  brothers? — 

Yet  how  can  I  accord  with  others. 

When  all  the  strings  I  play,  though  nerves 

That  every  feeblest  feeling  serves 

To  fill  with  thrills,  oft  bear  a  strain 

Of  stretching  fibres  wrench'd  with  pain 

That  wellnigh  snaps  them  all  in  twain. 

Ere  fitly  strung  to  sound  aright 

Some  highest  pitch  of  scorn  or  spite? 

Idem,  Doubting,  v. 


i64  A  POET'S  CABINET 

HARMONY,  UNIVERSAL 

As  in  the  older  advent,  so  to-day, 

Would  I  believe  in  power  behind  sweet  song 

To  hold  the  universe  in  harmony. 

Expelling  evil  and  impelling  good 

Through  all  the  limits  of  created  life, — 

A  spirit's  power! — What  though  we  mortals  here 

With  eyes  material  cannot  see  the  hosts 

That  issue  forth  in  forms  that  while  they  move 

Awake  around  us  echoes  everywhere! 

We  spring  to  spy  them,  but  we  only  hear 

Their  rustle  in  the  trees  by  which  they  pass; 

Or  where,  with  dash  of  water  o'er  the  rocks. 

They  leave  the  sea  or  linger  in  the  rill. 

At  times  they  rest  a  moment  on  the  earth, 

When  twilight  hides  them,  sighing  gently  then, 

And  lull  to  dreams,  with  tones  in  sympathy. 

The  lowly  insect  and  the  lowing  herd. 

At  times,  amid  the  winds  that  rise  at  morn, 

They  sweep  across  the  land  and  startle  sleep 

From  nervous  birds  that  twitter  in  their  track; 

And,  now  and  then,  in  clouds  that  close  the  sky, 

They  bound  adown  the  rift  the  lightning  cleaves 

Till  sunlight  overhead  pours  through  again. 

A  spirit's  power  has  music;  and  must  rule 

Unrivall'd  still  as  far  as  ear  can  heed. 

Or  reason  hark  behind  it.    All  the  chords 

Of  all  things  true  are  tuned  by  hands  divine, 

And  thrill  to  feel  the  touch ! — 

But  sounds  may  rise 
In  souls  untuned,  like  harp-strings  when  they  snap. 
Or,  though  more  soft  than  dreamland  breezes  are. 
May  fright  like  forests  when  the  dark  leaves  blow 
About  the  solitary  murderer — 
And  sweetest  airs  to  sweetest  moods  may  bring 
But  foretastes  vague  of  harmonies  on  high. 
The  school-girl  hears  her  comrade's  ringing  laugh, — 
'T  is  but  the  key-note  trill'd  before  the  tune. 
The  maiden  heeds  her  lover's  mellow  plea, — 
'T  is  but  the  gamut  rill'd  ere  surge  the  chords. 
The  dame  is  moved  by  tones  that  cheer  her  home, — 
And  they  perchance  prelude  the  theme  of  heaven. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  165 

For  even  blows  of  toil  and  battle-guns 

May  be  the  drum-rolls  of  the  martial  strains 

That  rise  to  greet  the  glory  yet  to  come. 

Ay,  wait  we  long  enough,  we  all  may  hear 

In  all  things  music;  far  above,  at  last, 

May  hear  the  treble  thrilling  down  from  heaven, 

And  e'en  from  hell  no  discord  in  the  jar 

That  only  thunders  back  a  trembling  bass. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxviii. 

HARVESTING 

Every  harvesting  before  thee 
Shows  the  vintage  is  but  rain 
Tum'd  to  wine  the  grapes  obtain 
From  the  floods  that  fill  the  plain. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xli. 

HAUGHTY   LOOKS 

....  Seen  him,  eh? — How  then  does  he  look? 

....  Look? — with  his  eyes — would  better  ask  how 
he  doesn't  look — at  limbs  like  us ! — has  held  his  head 
up  high  so  long  it  has  forgotten  where  it  came  from. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  v. 

HAY  CART  VS.  CHARIOT 

....  I  suppose  if  you  were  offered,  to-morrow,  the 
choice  between  a  chariot  and  a  hay  cart,  you  would 
take  the  hay  cart. 

....  It  would  depend  entirely  upon  who  was  in  it. 

Where  Society  Leads,  11. 

HEADS   vs.   HEARTS   RULING  ACTION    {see   REASON) 

Thank  God,  we  all  have  heads  above  our  hearts; 
And,  if  we  let  them  reason  with  us  well, 
They  riile  us  for  our  best. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxiv. 

HEADSTRONG 

The  rose  that  with  the  fondest  care  we  tend. 

May  grace  a  bush  whose  briers  but  cause  distress. 
And  those  on  whom  we  most  of  love  expend 

Give  sorrow  in  return  for  our  caress ; 

Yet  need  we  not  despair  of  their  success; 
For  oft,  where  others  would  move  on  no  more, 

Those  who  in  youth  these  headstrong  wills  possess, 


166  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Their  way  so  push  that  every  check,  in  store 
To  stop  the  weak,  becomes  for  them  an  opening  door. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  iv. 

HEALTH 

If  those  blooming  looks 
Hid  wormy  fruit  like  that,  I  ne'er  would  trust 
Sound  health  again !  Haydn,  xxxix. 

HEART,    DEAR 

That  dear,  dear  heart,  so  eager-sped  by  love, 

Whose  each  pulsation,  like  a  paddle's  beat 

Seemed  furthering  some  canoe's  o'erladen  prow 

Where  it  should  rest  and  empty  at  my  feet ; — 

That  dear,  dear  heart,  so  pliant  to  my  wish 

That,  at  my  lightest  breath,  the  brightening  smiles 

Would  open  round  his  lips  in  hues  as  fair 

As  rosebuds  parted  by  the  breeze  of  May; 

That  dear,  dear  heart,  the  germ  of  all  he  was — 

The  sweetest  outgrowth  of  the  sweetest  life 

This  earth  has  ever  molded  into  form ; 

To  think  that  even  now  a  heart  like  that, 

Its  nerve-roots  quivering  in  their  agony. 

Is  being  torn  out  from  the  bleeding  breast 

As  if  some  foulest  weed  that  could  pollute 

A  soil  that,  just  to  hold  it — that  alone — 

Is  more  than  sacred!     Oh,  how  can  the  heavens 

Be  so  unjust?     Far  better  not  to  think 

Than  think  but  of  that  fearful,  bleeding  vision. 

Would,  would  that  I  could  veil  it  out — but  no ! 

The  Aztec  God,  v. 

HEART,    woman's 

You  think 
A  woman's  heart,  if  tested  through  long  years. 
With  burdening  love  would  break?     You   think   it 

kinder 
To  break  it  at  the  start?  Columbus,  i.,  2. 

HEATED   BRAIN,   NOT    INFLUENCED   BY  WORDS 

Throwing  words  at  a  heated  brain  is  like  sprinkling 
water  on  a  red  hot  stove.  It  never  goes  below  the 
surface;  and  whatever  you  get  back  is  a  combination 
of  hiss  and  shot,  and  if  it  hits  you,  it  burns.  You  must 
wait  till  he  cools  off.        What  Money  Can't  Buy,  in. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  167 

HEAVEN    {see   IMMORTALITY   and   love) 
There,  where  the  sun  burns  all  the  view, 
What  sounds  there  in  the  boundless  blue? 
Faith — is  it  more  than  a  meek  despair? 
Truth — than  one's  own  note  echoed  in  air? 

Hope — than  his  dawn's  bright  dew? 
O  hush'd  Heaven,  but  what  would  I  give, 
How  would  I  love,  and  how  would  I  live. 
To  know  the  soul's  tale  to  be  trtte ! 

What  Would  I  Give. 
Why  should  we  mourn  for  life's  dry  leafless  vine. 
Who  seek  heaven's  vintage,  and  have  saved  the  wine? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  lii. 
Heaven  so  very  bright  must  be ! — 
For  even  here  the  past  is  bright;  and  there, 
Up  there,  we  faith  shall  have,  such  perfect  faith. 
That  none  can  longer  fear  the  future. 

Haydn,  vii. 
Let  love  light  all  our  pathway,  till  our  days 
Grow  dark  with  shades  of  life's  departing  rays; 
But  O  how  brightly  then  shall  heaven,  at  last. 
Glow  like  a  sunset  o'er  a  loving  past ! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  Lii. 

HEAVEN,  BEYOND   THE  INFLUENCE  OF  HELL 

Heard  in  heaven, 
Storms  blowing  from  the  mouth  of  hell  make  music. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

HEAVEN,    NEAR   HELL 

....  You  are — 

....  A  virgin,  yes,  but  were  I  the 

....  Do  not  say  that — 

....  I  could  imagine  times 

When  one  I  know  would  seem  divine. 

....  Wait,  wait! — 

How  near  together  heaven  and  hell  may  be ! 

....  Yes;  only  earth  and  earthly  thinking  make 

It  possible  for  sense  to  deem  them  two. 

Throne  God  in  hell,  all  heaven  would  burst  the  gates 

And  dream  of  blessed  rest,  though  every  foot 

Were  sea'd  upon  a  prostrate  seething  devil. 

Columbus,  II.,  I. 


168  A  POET'S  CABINET 

HEAVEN,    THE   WORLD   AND   HELL 

There  is  heaven;  and  all  the  world, 
A  world  that  will  the  more  pollute  my  soul, 
The  more  I  try  to  cross  it,  lies  between 
Myself  and  it,  and  keeps  me  here  in  hell. 

The  Aztec  God,  ill. 

HEELS,  CULTIVATION  OF 

....  Part  of  everybody's  understanding  is  in  his 
heels. 

....  And  those  that  cultivate  their  heels  alone  are 
in  danger  of  using  them,  by  and  by,  mainly  in  trampling 
other  people  down.  What  Money  Can't  Buy,  i. 

HELL 

....  Why,  then,  here's  to  hell! 

....  Not  here  yet — do  you  mean  it,  eh? — is  not 
a  pleasant  place  for  one  to  go  to. 

....  Why  not?  It  is  the  sort  of  place  you  like 
when  here,  not  so? 

....  You  are  a  great  logician. 

On  Detective  Duty,  ii. 

HELL   AND   HEAVEN 

In  spirit  those  work  most  for  truth,  who  most 
Are  true;  for  all  are  led,  yet  all  are  leaders. 
Thus  does  the  line  of  being  bridge  the  gulf 
Between  the  world  of  worm  and  fire — the  hell 
As  well  as  home  of  all  not  saved  from  matter — 
And  that  eternal  rest  where  souls,  made  free 
From  longer  craving  a  material  frame 
Through  which  to  signal  their  vain  selfhood,  lose 
Their  lower  life  to  find  a  higher  life, 
Where  now  their  spirits  are  at  one  with  His 
Whose  love  creates  but  that  it  may  bestow ; 
And,  even  as  the  Christ  is  in  the  Father, 
So,  too,  become  joint  heirs  with  Him  of  all  things. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

HELLISH 

False  and  hellish  moods 
Create  a  false  and  hellish  world  to  live  in. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

HELPING   HANDS 

All  men  at  times  have  need  of  helping  hands. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  169 

....  The  hand  that  helps  another  most  is  his 
Whose  own  hand  would  find  help.  Dante,  11.,  i . 

Their  outstretched   hands   may   show   that   love   is 

hidden 
Behind  the  mysteries  that  seem  to  cloak  it.        Idem. 

HENS,  OLD 

We  form  a  body  sitting  on  Columbus. 
An  old  hen,  even,  doing  this,  I  say, 
Would  hatch  out  something. 

....  Wait  now.     You  will  find 

Enough  old  hens  here  to  bring  forth,  at  least, 
What  they  will  think  worth  while  their  cackling  over. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 

HEREDITY  {see  BIRTH) 

A  flower  may  blossom,  sweet  and  bright, 

Though  grown  in  mire  where  hang  but  clouds; 

Her  Haughtiness. 
I  blame  her  not  because  her  veins 

Contain  her  foul  forefathers'  blood, 
But  that  her  own  work  now  maintains 

The  present  spring  that  taints  its  flood.      Idem. 
We  know  not  whence  came  manhood ;  but  we  know 
Whence  came  the  man, — from  unfulfilled  desire 
When  springs  that  welled  from  body  quenched  the  fire 
That  burned  to  fuse  in  one  two  souls  aglow. 
Embodiment  of  wish,  on  earth  below, 
For  union  which  no  earth-forms  can  acquire, 
Man  is  a  spirit,  aimed  for  regions  higher, 
Entrapped  and  entrailed  in  a  world  of  woe. 
What  wonder  if  he  wander  on  and  on 
Through  ways  that  bring  no  respite  and  no  rest? 
What  wonder  if  no  crown  that  shines  upon 
His  brow  can  ever  sate  ambition's  quest? 
What  wonder  if  death  only  end,  anon, 
A  strife  that  never  one  deems  wholly  blest? 

Heredity. 

HERESY 

Yotir  church, 
That  fann'd  some  whim  of  his,  left  smouldering. 
Some  spark  of  doubt  to  ardent  heresy. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxvii. 


170  A  POETS  CABINET 

HEROISM  AND  BRUTALITY 

It  is  an  old  saying  that  barking  dogs  do  not  bite; 

and  no  one  knows  much  of  the  world  who  is  not  aware 

that  an  essentially  coarse  and  brutal  character,  a 

braggart  boastful  chiefly  of  his  independence  of  the 

wishes  or  sympathy  of  others,  is  incapacitated  by  his 

very  nature  for  deeds  involving  the  grandest  heroism. 

Suggestions  for  the  Spiritual  Life,  xvi. 

heroes'  homes 

Yet  heroes'  homes  are  human  hearts. 

Ethan  Allen. 

HERO,  THE  POPULAR 

And  all  the  people  while  he  lived, 

They  loved  his  eagle  eye; 
And  when  he  died — ah,  friends,  you  know 

Such  spirits  cannot  die! 
To-day,  go  search  those  mountain  wilds 

And  valleys,  humbly  trod 
By  souls  whose  pure,  strong  faith  holds  on 

To  country,  home,  and  God; 
Ask  men  who  own  those  towering  trees, 

Or  plant  the  hillock  steep ; 
The  school-boys,  bounding  back  from  school, 

Or  watching  well  the  sheep ; 
The  housewives,  where  in  thrifty  homes 

The  generous  meals  are  spread; 
The  sisters,  gently  handing  down 

The  Book  when  prayers  are  said; 
Ask  all,  who  value  aught  they  own, 

Whose  fame  all  value  most? — 
The  flashing  eye  and  flushing  cheek 

Will  figure  him  they  boast.  Idem. 

HIGHER  LIFE,  THE 

Conceive  how  barren,  cold,  and  colorless 

Is  life  upon  the  heights. 

....  Conceive,  as  well, 

How  far,  and  broad,  and  varied,  and  sublime 

Are  earth  and  heaven  when  these  are  seen  from  them. 

Souls  oft  are  driven  from  our  lower  life 

That  thus  they  may  explore  for  us  the  higher. 

Dante,  iii.,  2. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  171 

HIGH  LIFE 

Man  is  but  man: 

He  cannot  scan 
Too  high  delights,  and  highly  rate 
The  lowly  joys  of  earth's  estate. 

The  Idealist. 

HIGH   POSITION 

His  friends  must  see  he  does  not  get  so  high 
That  falling  far  will  hurt  him.       Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

HILLS 

But  in  the  east  there  lie  sky-drifting  hills. 

Their  cliffs,  cloud-coursed  in  heights  of  mystery, 
Dim  dreamy  glens,  and  flash'd  surprise  of  rills, 

Had  train'd  in  youth  his  faith  and  fantasy. 
He  loved  them,  as  a  child  may  love  his  mother, 

A  simple  child  who  cannot  tell  you  why, 
Yet  something  feels  he  feels  not  for  another. 

Too  near  the  springs  of  life  for  question  or  reply. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxii. 

HINT 

Wit  heeds  a  hint ;  't  is  dulness  questions  it. 

Haydn,  xvi. 

HINTS   ABOUT  LOVE 

And  thus  a  habit  grew  that  our  two  lives 
Dwelt  there  like  friends,  made  separate  by  war. 
Who  out  from  hostile  camps  wave  now  a  hand. 
And  now  a  kerchief,  but  who  never  speak. 
And  yet  I  cannot  say  love  never  spoke. — 
We  did  not  mean  it;  but  I  think  that  love 
May  tell  its  tales,  unconscious  of  the  fact. 
For  who  is  conscious  when  God  touches  him? — 
But  littlest  acts  there  were;  yet  spirits  read 
From  signs  too  fine  for  measurements  of  space; 
Love  heeds  no  measurements.    But  hints  there  were; 
And  yet  what  words  of  love  yield  more  than  these? 
They  hit  the  sense  of  love,  but  fail  of  sense 
Where  nothing  loving  waits  to  take  the  hint. 

Haydn,  xxxvii. 
And  kitten-like,  at  play  beside  the  hearth, 
We  told  our  secrets,  and  none  knew  of  them. 

Idem. 


172  A  POET'S  CABINET 

HINTS    VS.    HITS 

Those  who  are  too  stupid  to  take  hints  have  to  be 
trained  at  times  by  getting  hits. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  i. 

HISTORY,  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

All  of  history  but  fulfils  the  law  that  rules  the  single 

soul. 
Times  there  were,  near  earth's  beginning,  when  im- 

pell'd  but  from  within, 
Men  but  felt  the  good  of  goodness  and  the  sinfulness  of 

sin. 
Then  they  learn'd  of  outward  right,  but  still,  too  dull  to 

probe  its  cause, 
Wasted  reverence  on  commandments  and  the  holy 

text  of  laws; 
Now  the  times,  at  last,  are  coming,  when  the  soul  in 

clearer  light 
Must  amid  unfolding  learning  serve  the  wisdom  of  the 

right. 
God  is  Lord  through  independence.     By  and  by  we 

all  shall  see 
How  the  truth  that  rules  above  can  rule  below,  yet 

leave  us  free, 
See  through  all  earth's  changing  phases  whence  we 

come  and  where  we  wend, — 
See  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xv. 

HOLIDAYS 

We  have  our  holy  daj'-s  and  holidays. 
I  sometimes  wonder  which  are  holier. 

Columbus,    II.,    2. 

HOLLAND 

Of  art  he  also  found  a  heedful  school, 

As  cleanly  trimm'd  as  dikes  that  guard  her  farms, 
Where  crouching  Holland  makes  the  sea  her  tool, 

Nor  lets  one  breeze  escape  her  windmills'  arms. 
This  thorough  race,  what  have  they  ever  slighted? — 

E'en  in  their  church  what  tireless  energy. 
Where  crowds,  in  chants  monotonous  united, 

Praise   Him   who   stretched    their   plains,    in   like 
monotony.      A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xliii. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  173 

HOLY  MEN 

You  seem  a  holy  man. 
....  Nay,  none  is  that. 

When  men  seem  holy  do  not  think  of  them, 
But  of  the  cause  that  has  affected  them. 

Columbus,   II.,    I. 

HOME 

Home  seems  a  state, 
Not  place. 
....         A  state  of  happiness 

Idem,  II.,  3. 
No  setting  so  becomes 
A  jewel  of  a  woman  as  a  home, — 
A  loving  home  like  this. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 
So  storms  that  sweep  where  man  in  vain  contends, 

When  forced  unshelter'd  through  the  earth  to  roam, 
And  trust  in  those  who  prove  but  fair-day  friends. 
Harm  not  the  soul  well  wall'd  within  the  home. 
Let  false  friends  go,  when  those  of  home  stay  near 
one, 
Privations  come  that  but  deprive  of  ease, 
No  other  loss  can  seem  the  most  severe  one; 

Nor  other  woe  o'erwhelm  one  toiling  still  for  these. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xviii. 
And  tho'  no  more  his  old  home's  forms  and  faces 

Await  him,  when  his  feet  no  more  can  roam. 
In  every  human  form  and  face  he  traces 

A  likeness  of  the  lost  that  makes  each  house  a  home. 

Idem,  Lxxxix. 

HOME,  A  farmer's 

In  moments  when 
The  stress  of  work  is  waived,  perchance  in  hours 
Of  sickness  or  of  sorrow,  or  when  storms 
Have  block'd  the  roadways  of  accustom'd  craft, 
Or  evening  shadows  hid  the  daily  task. 
And  brought  the  cattle  home,  and  shut  the  school 
And  shop  and  factory;  when  carts  and  plows 
Are  in  their  places,  and  the  horses  fed, 
And  ?table-doors  made  fast,  and  dogs  at  watch; 
When  in  the  house  the  evening  meal  has  pass'd, 


174  A  POET'S  CABINET 

The  lamps  been  lighted,  and  the  little  folk 
Been  put  to  bed  with  that  last  prayer  and  kiss 
Which  hallows  all  their  dreamland;  when  the  wife 
Takes  up  her  sewing,  and  the  maid  draws  forth 
Her  embroidery  work,  well  folded  to  conceal 
Her  future  gift  from  him  for  whom  't  is  wrought, — 
Then  often  comes  at  last  the  poet's  hour. 

Idem,  Finale. 

HOME-LIFE  IN  REVOLUTIONARY  TIMES 

But  hist!  the  cheers  were  check'd. 

"Keep  mum!"  the  murmur  spread; 
The  crown,  to  get  these  men,  had  set 

A  price  on  every  head. 

"Five  hundred  dollars  down, 

For  him  who  tells  of  one," 
Was  first  proclaim'd :  but  no  one  named 

A  man  who  aught  had  done. 

"Five  thousand,"  then  were  pledged, 

"To  know  who  took  the  lead; 
And  half  as  much  to  know  of  such 

As  join'd  him  in  the  deed. " 

The  King's  commission,  last, 

Sat  half  a  year  or  more; 
But  not  a  word  it  ever  heard 

About  the  sixty-four. 

Forgotten  were  they  then? 

They  might  have  pass'd  by  day, 
Without  a  wink  to  make  you  think. 

Or  hint  that  it  was  they. 

But,  when  the  night  had  come; 

And  door  and  blind  were  lock'd, 
And  window  fast,  and  blew  the  blast 

Till  all  the  chimney  rock'd ; 

When,  safe  from  eyes  and  ears, 

In  homes  where  all  were  true, 
The  way  those  men  were  feasted  then 

A  king,  full  well,  might  rue. 

And  when  the  board  was  bare; 

And  round  the  roaring  fire. 
The  nuts  were  crack'd  and  cider  smack'd 

Till  tooth  and  tongue  would  tire; 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  175 

When  each  his  tale  would  tell 

About  that  ship  and  night, 
And  still  the  way  he  dodg'd,  each  day, 

The  British  spy  and  spite; 

The  boys  who  husk'd  the  corn 

Would  forward  bend,  and  spring. 
And  draw  the  ears,  like  swords,  with  cheers, 

To  make  the  rafters  ring! 

The  host  who  stirr'd  the  fire 

Would  stab  it  through  and  through: 
You  might  have  thought  the  flames  he  brought 

Had  burn'd  a  cruiser  too. 

The  girls  would  fancy  then 

It  was  the  cruiser  flared; 
And  round  the  walls  would  aim  like  balls 

The  apples  red  they  pared. 

"To  arms!"  would  cry  the  men; 

And  each  a  maid  purloin; 
While  mother's  yarn  would  snap,  and  darn 

The  dance  that  all  would  join. 

Ah,  so  we  hush'd  the  tale! 

Yet  spies  that  nigh  would  roam 
Could  not  decoy  the  smallest  boy 

To  tell  what  pass'd  at  home. 

We  hush'd  it,  till  the  hush 

Became  our  countersign 
To  save  from  those  we  knew  were  foes, 

And  make  our  men  combine. 

We  hush'd  it,  till  we  learn'd 

That  thousands  would  be  free. 
And  long'd  to  know  which  way  to  go 

And  when  the  call  would  be. 

We  hush'd  it,  till  we  heard 

What  Concord  had  to  bear; 
Then  shouted  loud,  a  mighty  crowd, 

"Our  heroes  lead  us  there!" 

The  Last  Cruise  of  the  Gaspee. 

HOME  LIFE  WITH  LOVE 

How  swiftly  sped  the  hours  in  happy  nights 
When,  after  work,  he  rested  there  at  home! 


176  A  POETS  CABINET 

Such  winning  ways  he  had  to  lure  my  trust! 
Such  sweet  pet  names  would  call  me,  till  I  felt 
So  fondly  small,  he  well  might  be  my  lord! 
Would  tease  me  so,  anon  to  comfort  me! 
Or  rouse  my  temper  that  he  mild  might  seem; 
Or  tell  such  tales,  that  in  my  dreams  I  laugh'd 
At  wit  reflecting,  though  distorting,  his. 

Haydn,  xxxvill. 

HOMES 

How,  all  its  chairs  made  vacant  one  by  one, 
Th'  applause  rose  thinner  at  his  bachelor-club; 
How,  brief  as  birds',  are  human  mating-times ; 
How  men,  mere  songs  forgot,  withdraw  to  nests — 
To  homes — their  worlds,  where  all  the  sky  is  fill'd 
With  sunny  smiles  they  love,  and  shadowy  locks. 
How  sweet  were  life  whose  light  and  shade  were  these! 

Ideals  Made  Real,  v. 

HOME-SINGING 

How  blest  are  homes,  all  fill'd  with  song, 

The  mother's  hum,  the  choral  strong. 

The  hymn  that  bears  great  thoughts  that  throng 

Where  all  pure  hope  is  winging ! 
How  heaves  the  breast  in  air  so  sweet, 
How  thrills  the  blood  it  fills  to  meet, 
While  all  the  spirit  bounds  to  greet 

The  joys  of  life  in  singing ! 

A  Song  on  Singing. 

HONESTY  AND  WORK 

When  you're  older.  Miss,  you'll  find  it  isn't  honest 
folks  that  earn  their  living,  cent  by  cent,  that  prove 
dishonest  when  they  deal  with  you.  They're  not  the 
kind  your  father  meant.  He  meant  the  kind  that 
never  work  for  what  they  get;  but  live  by  filching  what 
others  work  to  get.  Their  hands  are  not  like  mine;  not 
hard,  but  soft.  They  slip  around  you  like  a  snake, — 
the  sneaks!     I'm  not  a  boy  like  that. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  ii. 

HONIED  PHRASES 

The  kiss  of  honied  phrases  is  apt  to  leave  behind 
them  what  proves  sticky  and  may  sicken  us. 

Idem. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  177 

HONIED  WORDS 

Too  often  'tis  those  who  bring  us  honied  words  whose 
stings  are  sharpest  when  they  leave  us.  Idem. 

HONOR  {see  divorce) 
I  honor'd  God  the  more  from  this,  the  hour 
I  found  His  honor  so  encased  in  man. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxi. 
We  men  who  wed  incur  a  debt  of  honor. 
....  But  should  that  let  one  harm  himself? 
....  Why,  honor 

Is  in  oneself,  and  so  does  not  depend 
On  anything  another  is  or  does.       Dante,  ill.,  i. 
Had  he  look'd,  in  his  youth, 
Past  the  shadows  of  form  to  the  substance  of  truth? 
Had  he  learn'd  that  all  life  turns  to  seasons,  and  shifts 

From  winter  and  spring  into  summer  and  fall? 
Or  divined  that  eternity,  balancing  gifts, 
Grants  honor  like  heaven,  a  state  after  strife, 
And  a  glorified  name  to  a  sacrificed  life? 
Did  he  know  that  sighs,  when  yearning  for  love, 
Best  open  the  soul  to  breathe  in  from  above 
The  air  immortal,  and  make  it  worth  while 

That  art  should  chisel  in  marble  clear 
The  lines  divine  that  temper  a  smile 

Beyond  the  sway  of  a  mortal's  cheer? — 
Did  he  know  it  or  not,  perchance  for  his  good 
His  work  was  lonely  and  misunderstood. 
Perchance  it  was  well,  the  best  for  the  soul, 
Its  nature,  its  nurture,  that  aught  to  control 
The  aims  inspiring  his  life  or  its  plan 
Had  gain'd  but  little  from  earth  or  man. 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 
honor,  at  the  expense  of  sympathy 

For  all  whose  paths 
Of  honor  and  of  sympathy  divide. 
One  choice  alone  remains — to  dwell  content 
With  loneliness,  and  one's  ideal,  and  God. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  2. 
honor,  desirable  only  for  earners  of  it 

A  man's  best  friend 
Will  bid  him  wait  for  honor  till  he  earn  it. 


178  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Amid  earth's  envious  crush  of  frenzied  greed, 
It  is  no  kindness,  pushing  to  the  front 
One  who  is  not  a  leader.    Zealous  forms 
That  crowd  him  there  may  tramp  him  under  foot. 

Idem,  I. 

HONOR,  ONE  woman's  SENSE  OF 

....  You  really  should  not  touch  them. 

....  No?  Why  not? 

....  He  would  not  like  it. 

....  Oh,  of  course  not!  but 

He  need  not  know  it;  need  he?      Columbus,  i.,  3. 
honors  in  office  {see  station) 

....  This  getting  office  is  like  getting  married — 
for  better,  or  for  worse.  No  man  can  gain  its  honors, 
and  escape  from  some  dishonors. 

....  No  portraits  ever  grace  a  hall  of  fame  with- 
out suggesting  caricatures. 

....  Our  metal  may  be  gold;  but  beat  the  gold, 
as  men  do  when  they  make  a  server  of  it,  the  plate  may 
prove  so  thin  that  every  bulge  embossed  in  beauty  on 
its  upper  side  is  matched  by  hideous  holes  upon  its 
under.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

HOPE 

And  yields  not  heaven  some  gleam  to  thought, 

Or  hope  by  spirit-whispers  brought. 

To  guide  toward  all  our  souls  have  sought? 

Ay,  ay;  do  not  clear  skies  reveal, 

At  times,  to  cheer  our  wavering  zeal, 

Bright  realms  that  mists  no  more  conceal? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  XV. 
When  lit  by  hope,  rebuffs 
Are  merely  clouds  aglow  where  dawn  brings  light, 
But  when  no  ray  of  hope  is  visible 
The  dark  seems  full  damnation. 

Columbus,  I.,  2. 
Down  underneath  my  deep  despair. 
Where  heaved  a  sigh  that  loosen'd  all  m}^  soul. 
Like  some  sweet  kiss  of  sudden  death  that  draws 
To  sudden  bliss,  when  men  to  heaven  are  snatch'd 
From  all  the  roar  and  rage  of  war,  there  came 
One  hope.  Ideals  Made  Real,  lix. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  179 

HOPE  AND  FEAR 

Sweet  hope  is  a  bird  of  light, 
The  pulsing  touch  of  whose  aspiring  wing 
Thrills  to  new  life  the  very  air  one  breathes. 
In  gloom  like  ours  the  trembling  heart  but  leaps 
To  dodge  the  whir  of  some  blind  bat  of  fear. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

HOPE  vs.  DESPAIR 

The  brute-despair  my  soul  has  housed  so  long 
Is  trained  to  bear  hard  blows,  and  beat  them,  back; 
But  this  frail  trembling  babe  of  hope,  just  born. 
Oh  it  were  cruel  murder,  maiming  it ! 

Dante,  in.,  2. 
Oft,  while  the  eyes  of  hope  are  looking  up. 
The  devil  trips  the  feet.  The  Aztec  God,  il. 

Impossible!    Heaven  cannot  be  malicious. 
What?  build  so  high  a  structure  for  my  hope. 
Then  knock  the  prop  from  under?    All,  all  gone? 

Columbus,  I,,  2. 

HUDSON    RIVER 

His  house  was  built  beside  those  lordly  banks 

That  rise  to  greet  the  Hudson's  glimmering  train; 
Where  man,  as  if  to  it  were  due  his  thanks. 

Has  decked  with  art  its  every  hill  and  plain. 
Below  him  flowed  that  rare  and  royal  river. 

So  white  with  sails,  and  waveless  tho'  so  wide, 
And  first  of  rivers  destin'd  to  deliver 

To  steam  and  wheel  the  power  to  stem  their  cur- 
rents' tide.         A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxv. 

HUMANITARIANISM 

To  wisdom's  eyes  all  paths  in  life  reveal 
Each  man  a  sentinel  of  all  men's  weal. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 

HUMANITY 

Believe  me,  in  humanity  it  is. 

In  charities,  and  kindly  courtesies, 

In  eyes  that  sparkle,  and  in  checks  that  blush 

With  love  and  hope  and  faith,  which  make  them  flush, 

That  all  the  bloom  and  fruitage  of  the  earth 

Attain  their  consummation  and  their  worth. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xil. 


i8o  A  POET'S  CABINET 

HUMANITY,  LOVE  FOR 

"Here  where  nature  rules  and  gives  its  due  to  all 

humanity, 
Here  must  be  the  land, "  I  thought,  "of  all  the  dearest 

prophecy. 
His  way  surely  ends  in  brightness,  who  is  ruled  in  every 

plan 
By  a  love  like  God's,  not  slighting  one  whom  God  has 

made  a  man. "      A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxxvi. 

No  pride  in  man  can  thrill  the  mind 
That  treats,  like  soulless  brutes,  its  kind; 
No  heavenly  father  seems  to  cheer 
Those  who  see  not  his  children  here. 

The  only  joy  that  love  can  know 
Dwells  in  our  own  hearts  when  aglow. 
The  only  hope  that  faith  can  feel 
Our  spirits  in  themselves  reveal. 

After  the  Lynching, 

HUMANITY,    OBLIGATION    TO 

....  We  are  under  obligations,  as  I  said  before,  to 
society. 

....  We  are  under  more  obligations,  I  think,  to 
humanity. 

....  But  society's  a  part  of  humanity. 

....  It  forms  a  larger  part,  I  think,  of  inhumanity. 
When  we  follow  society's  lead,  or  become  leaders  in  it, 
we  tread  a  path,  and  set  a  pace,  that  may  timible  half 
of  those  behind  us  down  a  precipice. 

....  If  so,  it  is  their  own  fault. 

....  Yes  and  no.  It's  our  fault  so  far  as  they  are 
led  astray  by  our  example.  Our  deeds,  mother,  never 
end  with  ourselves.    They  include  what  we  do  to  others. 

....  What  others? 

....  All  others — persons  or  things;  yes,  all  ob- 
jects that  surround  us  off  to  the  remotest  star.  No 
one  can  think  of  himself  except  as  the  center  of  the 
universe  with  all  of  which  he  is  connected  as  a  soul 
with  a  body,  and  this  with  the  atmosphere  around  the 
body.  There  is  so  much  truth,  at  least,  in  what  some 
call  the  exploded  science  of  astrology. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  Iii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  i8i 

HUMAN  NATURE 

He  sought  he  knew  not  what;  he  found  mankind. 

In  all  the  regions  where  his  feet  would  wend, 
'T  would  thrill  his  heart  in  every  sphere  to  find 

How  love  reveal'd  can  always  find  a  friend. 
Who  have  not  faults?  who  are  not  faults  regretting? 

Who  wish  not  much?  who  ever  gain  their  aim? 
Who  form  not  plans  for  all  mankind's  abetting? 

And  is  not  human  nature  in  us  all  the  same? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Servings  lxxv. 

We  trust  in  human  nature; 

The  conscience,  ruling  there. 
May  guard  the  right,  full  well  as  kings 

With  crowns  their  dearest  care. 
Love  rules  in  human  nature, 

For,  all  of  history  through. 
The  slaves  have  been  the  many. 

The  tyrants  been  the  few. 

The  Lebanon  Boys  in  Boston. 

HUMAN,  SOME  MEN  ARE  NOT 

To  understand  what  is  humanizing,  people  have  to 
be  human  themselves.  Some  are  not  so.  When  you 
try  to  train  them,  they  are  like  dogs.  You  ask  them  to 
lend  you  a  hand,  and  they  can  only  scratch  with  a  paw. 

What  Money  Cant  Buy,  ill. 

HUNGRY  MAN 

There's  not  a  fish  that's  caught  by  bait  as  easily  as 
a  hungry  man.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

HUSBAND 

She  must  not  thwart  me  so. 

Her  life's  full  destiny  must  she  know, 

When  dower'd  with  mine  own,  as  well,  she  stands 

With  doubled  head  and  heart  and  hands. 

Ah,  could  she  but  dream 

How  sweet  it  would  seem 
Per  me  to  give  my  life  for  her  own, 
To  be  her  slave  and  that  alone, 

A  willing  slave, 
Who  all  worth  living  in  life  would  save. 

Though  I  toil'd  all  day 

In  the  weariest  way, 


i82  A  POET'S  CABINET 

If  only  at  home  could  await  me  that  rest, 
More  sweet  than  ever  a  seraph  blest, 
When,  welcom'd  for  all  that  in  me  was  best, 
With  wonder  new,  I  bent  to  the  grace 
And  infinite  depth  of  her  thrill'd  embrace! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxviii. 
IDEAL  and  IDEALS  {see  beauty,  devotion,  poetry) 
Ideas,  however,  which  have  been  conformed  by 
imagination  to  certain  known  objects,  events,  or  ex- 
periences which,  nevertheless,  they  transform — ideas 
which  have  been  given  definiteness  of  figure  which, 
nevertheless,  they  transfigure — constitute  what  we 
mean  by  ideals. 

The  Representative  Significance  of  Form,  ix. 
Ah,  they  know  not  his  better  choice, 
Who  with  ideals  for  his  friends 
Finds,  in  the  light  toward  which  he  wends, 
What  all  the  lure  of  wrong  transcends. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xi. 
When  the  best  ideals  lure  one. 
Only  then  can  aught  assure  one 
That  his  motive  is  a  pure  one. 

Idem,  XXIV. 
Ah,  that  which  made  the  stars  made  earth; 
And  heaven's  is  one  with  human  worth. 
The  light  that  lures  beyond  all  sin 
Is  one  with  love's  that  burns  within. 
Whate'er  I  doubt,  I  know  full  well 
Who  made  the  soul  must  it  impel; 
Whate'er  may  fail,  heaven  must  reveal 
The  truth  to  those  who  truly  feel 
That  they  pursue  a  true  ideal.     Idem,  xxxvi. 
I  told  her  about  my  soul's  ideal 

That  came  from  God,  and  was  God  to  me; 
And  which,  in  hope  that  it  might  be  real, 
I  had  search'd  the  world  in  vain  to  see. 

Idem,  Loving,  xxil. 
Unseen  by  us,  I  dream  of  life, 

That  with  our  own  has  union. 
And  in  the  lulls  of  earthly  strife 
With  ours  can  hold  communion. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  183 

A  life  it  is  that  waits  above 

Our  mortal  forms  here  living; 
And  makes  them  instruments  of  love 

Which  it  to  man  is  giving. 
For  us,  despite  the  claims  of  earth, 

It  forms  the  one  thing  real ; 
It  brings  us  all  that  life  is  worth ; 

We  call  it  our  ideal. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxx. 

A  life  it  is,  whose  charms  forestall 
The  world's  most  rare  relation, — 

Our  guardian  spirit,  consort,  all 
We  need  for  every  station. 

It  owns  the  face  we  dream  about 

To  which  our  souls  are  mated; 
And  all  we  love  in  earth  without, 

Its  impress  has  created. 

Its  features  vague  seem  veil'd  for  us 

In  every  phase  of  beauty; 
And  oft,  through  good  embodied  thus. 

They  woo  our  wills  to  duty. 

They  make  us  god-like  whose  delight 

In  forms  and  faces  real 
But  springs  to  greet  the  image  bright 

Of  this  divine  ideal.  Idem. 

It  WTOUght  his  woe,  and  this  his  reason  knew. 

He  knew  his  own  ideals  made  him  sad. 
He  yet  would  rather  sigh  and  urge  the  true. 

Than  smile  and  seem  contented  with  the  bad. 
So  oft  within  life's  theatre  of  action, 

He  play'd  the  preacher,  where  men  sought  a  clown; 
And  took  a  keen  but  morbid  satisfaction 

When  those  who  only  cared  for  pleasure  hiss'd  him 
down.  Idem,  Serving,  ix. 

Most  men  who  court  ideals 
Have  first  their  idol ;  and,  the  false  god  fell'd, 
Hoard  then  the  fringe  that  dangled  on  its  train, 
And  spend  their  lives  in  hunting  other  trains 
To  match  but  forms  and  colors  of  the  first. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lv. 


184  ^  POET'S  CABINET 

You  serve  ideals,  like  all  idiots. 

Idem,  XII. 
idealist's  misjudgments 
A  mind  with  thought  forever  in  the  clouds 
May  be  excused  for  stumbling,  now  and  then, 
At  what,  if  seen  through,  might  appear  mere  shadow. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 
idealist's  view  of  life 

What  they  see 
Is  never  in  the  thing  at  which  they  look ; 
But,  like  a  halo  when  it  rings  the  moon, 
All  in  the  clouds,  and  drawn  there  by  themselves. 
....  Break  through  the  halo,  you  might  find  them 

out. 
.  .  .  .  Or  else  be  found  out  by  them. 
.  .  .  .  That  is  it; 

And  by-and-by  come  tumbling  from  the  hights 
Where  they,  not  we,  have  put  us, — in  a  realm 
Where  pebbles  all  seem  palaces,   and  mounds   all 

mounts. 
And  clouds  all  continents,  and  moons  have  faces, 
And  all  the  littlest  stars  that  prick  the  sky 
Are  spear-points  of  some  huge  hobgoblin. 

Idem,  I.,  I. 
One  may  excuse  a  bird,  if,  when  it  flies, 
It  fails  in  seeing  everything  on  earth. 

Idem,  II.,  I. 
IDEALITY  {see  poetry) 
Oh  what  were  life  without  the  worth 

Of  ideality, — 
Its  home,  heaven's  halo  round  the  earth; 

Its  language,  poetry. 
The  world  of  deeds  whose  armor  gleams 

May  light  the  path  to  right 
Far  less  than  rays  that  rise  in  dreams, 

And  days  that  dawn  at  night. 
God's  brightest  light  illumes  the  soul. 

That  light  this  life  denies 
Till  earth's  horizons  lift  and  roll 
Like  lids  from  opening  eyes. 

The  Poet's  Lesson. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  185 

IDEALS,  INFLUENCE  OF  MEN's,  ON  WOMEN 

It's  men's  ideals  that  keep  us  ladies.  I'm  sure  that 
men  are  better  pleased  with  other  men  that  act  like 
women,  than  women  are.  When  we  want  women,  we 
take  to  our  own  mirrors — thus. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

If  men  should  let  the  girls  do  what  they  choose,  we 
never  should  have  ladies.     Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 

IDEALS     LOST 

At  last,  we  had  parted; 
Nor  had  ventured  one  hint,  forsooth. 
Of  the  light  that  gave  heaven  its  glory, 

And  earth  its  worth,  in  our  youth. 
He  had  wrought  for  wealth,  I  had  married; 

We  had  both  earned  board  and  bed; 
But  for  what  had  we  made  a  living 
When  all  we  had  lived  for  was  dead? 

Ideals  that  Were. 

IDEALS  NOT  MARKETABLE 

But  I  hardly  think  fulfilling  one's  ideal  the  surest 
way  of  filling,  too,  one's  purse.  Who  want  ideals? 
You  ask  our  merchants;  every  one  will  say  the  finest 
wares  find  fewest  purchasers.  Why  not  the  finest  writ- 
ings fewest  readers  ?  You  think  men  weigh  in  metal  got 
from  mire  a  fair  exchange  for  what  is  got  from  mind? 
One  represents  the  extractioning  of  greed,  the  other 
something  given  by  the  spirit.         The  Two  Paths,  I. 

IDEALS,   THEIR   INFLUENCE   ON    SPIRITUAL   LIFE 

....  They  did  not  see  us. 

.  .  .  .  No; 

For  they  did  not  look  up. 

....  I  know,  but  why? — 

Where  all  things  round  them  were  so  new  and  strange? 

....  The  spirit  is  the  slave  of  its  desire. 

They  did  not  care  to  look  above  themselves. 

....  Pray  tell  me  who  they  were.     They  seemed 

so  near, 
And  yet  so  many  million  miles  away. 
They  looked  like  people,  too,  whom  once  I  knew; 
Yet  moved  like  cuckoos  jointed  on  a  clock. 
Accenting  nothing  they  have  thought  themselves, 


1 86  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Or  have  the  force  to  make  another  think. 

....  They  seemed  as  if  lost  souls. 

....  Lost  souls,  you  say? 

....  Did  you  not  note  them — how  they  wandered 

on; 
Nor  knew  their  destination? 
....  Heaven  forbid! 

....  Why  pray  for  this? — You   think  that   force 

rules  here, — 
That  spirits  are  not  free  to  wander  where 
Their  own  ideals  bear  them? 
....  Those  they  formed 

On  earth  you  mean? 

....  Where  else  could  they  be  formed? 

....  And  whither,  think  you,  will  ideals  bear 
Those  whom  we  just  have  seen? 

....  Where  would  you  deem 

These  could  be  realized — save  on  the  earth? 
....  But  some  of  them  seemed  looking  for  their 

Christ. 
....  I  fear  those  looking  only  for  their  Christ 
May  sometimes  fail  to  find  the  Christ  of  God. 
....  But  will  they  never  find  Him? 
....  Do  you  think 

That  those  in  search  but  for  a  false  ideal, 
Could  recognize  Him,  even  should  they  find  Him? 
....  Is  not  the  Christ  of  God  in  all  the  churches? 
....  Is  he  not  preached  through  men? 
....  And  are  not  men 

Controlled  ? — ^inspired  ? 

....  And,  if  so,  from  what  source? 

Are  there  no  spirits  in  the  line  between 
Divinity  and  man? — And  what  of  man, — 
This  urn  of  earth  in  which  the  true  seed  falls? — 
There  was  an  Arab  in  Mohammed's  time; 
In  Joan  of  Arc's,  there  was  a  maid  of  France. 
....  But  would  you  grant  their  claim? 
....  Some  keen  as  you 

Believed  it  true.    And  is  it  charity 
To  deem  them  dupes? 

....  But  one  must  rate  them  thus, 

Or  call  upon  their  prophets. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  187 

....  Think  you  so? 

One  hears  of  gypsies  telling  what  comes  true. 
Does  this  truth  prove  them  seers  of  all  the  truth? 

Believe  not  every  spirit ;  prove 

....  But  how? 

....  How  but  by  what  is  told,  and  character 

Of  him  who  tells  it?     To  the  true  soul,  truth 

Appeals  to  taste,  as  beauty  to  the  sense; 

Its  test  is  quality.     The  truth  of  Christ 

Is  proved  by  traits  of  Christ.    The  like  comes  from  like. 

Their  inspiration  is  the  nearest  God 

Whose  lives  and  loves  are  nearest  Him. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

ILLNESS 

How  pale  he  lay! 
We  fear'd  for  him,  lest  life  should  slip  its  net: 
The  fleshly  cords  were  worn  to  film  so  thin ! 
But  how  the  soul  would  shine  through  them! 

Haydn,  xi. 

IMAGE 

Awake,  asleep,  throned  constant  o'er  my  heart, 
I  served  this  image  all  intangible, 
This  photographic  fantasy  of  truth. 
This  fairy  nothingness  of  vanish 'd  fact, 
A  shape  to  love,  minute  yet  mighty  still, 
To  senses  nothing,  but  to  spirit  all. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xliii. 

IMAGE,    man's,    in   WOMEN's   EYES 

Give  a  woman  a  pair  of  eyes  and  bring  almost  any 
man  near  her,  he  will  see  his  image  inside  them,  an 
image  exceedingly  small,  an  image,  too,  upside  down. 
But  a  man  never  saw  any  image  inside  those  eyes  but 
his  own.  The  Ranch  Girl,  Iii. 

IMAGERY 

....     Men  term  youth  poetic. 

....  Rightly  too. 

The  freshest  fires  are  brightest.     But  our  thoughts, 

How  e'er  they  burn  and  melt,  not  often  flow 

To  moulds  of  nature's  rarest  imagery. 

Till  life  has  been  well  sought  to  find  and  store  it. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 


1 88  A  POET'S  CABINET 

IMAGINATION  {see  FANCY) 

Unless  you  wish  to  think  and  feel,  and  thrill 
To  feel,  there  is  a  larger  world  than  ours. 
....  In  one's  imagination. 
....  Be  it  so. 

Imagination  is  the  soul  of  thought. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 

Oh,  they  have  turn'd  from  all  the  pain 
That  came  from  earth  they  served  in  vain, 
To  that  still  world  within  the  brain. 
Where  fancy  forms  it  mead  and  main. 
There  many  a  fairest  vision,  sought 
In  clearer  light  than  sunlight  brought, 
Is  mirror'd  in  the  wells  of  thought. 
But  oh,  how  oft  must  one  surmise. 
While  o'er  the  soul's  wild  sea  of  sighs 
Imagination's  glories  rise. 
That,  as  at  sunset,  every  form 
Derives  its  best  from  cloud  and  storm! 
Oft  fancy  works  but  to  appease 
A  restlessness  that  shows  disease, 
A  fever  that  the  brain  would  ease. 
Oft  crimson  floods  of  thought  impart 
Their  brilliant  hues  to  speech  and  art, 
When  thus  a  pierced  and  bleeding  heart 
Is  drain'd  in  drawing  forth  a  dart. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  viil. 

The  power  that  makes  imagination  burst 
Through  limits  of  our  world,  as  you  have  done. 
To  find  this  new  world,  makes  it  pass  beyond  them. 
The  glories  of  that  sunset-land  may  all 
Be  in  the  land  you  saw,  or  in  the  sky. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 

IMAGINATION  AND  KNOWLEDGE 

Imagine  only — not  the  same  as  knowing! 
Imagination  dreams:  its  dreams  anon 
May  leap  Time's  processes,  or,  keen-eyed,  spy 
The  end  from  the  beginning.    Yet  such  dreams 
Come  but  to  him  so  stirred  in  sympathy 
With  nature's  courses,  or  inspired  in  aim 
For  nature's  goals,  or  swept  on  by  its  force, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  189 

That  sheer  inertia  of  the  soul  outspeeds 

The  pace  of  grosser  matter. 

....  And  to  you 

At  times 

....  The  times  come  seldom.    Ay,  not  oft 

Do  fancy's  flowers  foretoken  fruit;  not  oft 

Is  ripe  fruit  laden  on  the  limbs  that  bloom 

Most  brilliant  with  the  flowers. — Yet  have  I  seen  it, — 

Imagination  imagining  true  life, 

Life  true  to  all  its  images;  and  then 

I  found  a  seer,  earth's  rarest  product.     Idem,  v.,  2. 

IMAGINATION  AND  MOUNTAINS 

When  dwelling  in  a  realm  of  endless  plains, 
Those  whom  thy  shade  had  haunted  pointed  out 
The  clouds,  and  bade  me  find  thine  image  there, — 
With  what  delight  my  heart  first  welcomed  thee! 
And  then,  like  one  whose  form  lies  prone  in  sleep, 
My  young  imagination  woke  and  rose 
And  strove  to  climb,  and — heaven  alone  can  tell 
How  wisely — has  been  climbing  ever  since. 

Grey  lock. 

IMAGINATION,  A  SOURCE  OF  TRUTH 

Then  I  thought  this  whole  odd  vision  might  be  an 

imagined  one; 
Some  had  deem'd  that  half  life's  fabrics  were  from 

mere  thin  fancy  spun. 
"Is  it  so?"  at  last  I  question'd;  "are  not  things  the 

things  they  seem? 
Do  souls  oft  but  heed  delusions,  heeding  steps  of  which 

they  dream?" 
"Those  who  think  so,"  said  she  softly,  "overlook, 

when  thinking  so. 
Truths    within    man's    nature    deeper    than    proof's 

plummets  ever  go. 
Souls  reflect  all  life  like  mirrors,  and  their  dreams  by 

day,  by  night. 
Though  they  oft  distort,  oft  image  facts  too  fine  for 

finite  sight."     A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxiii. 

IMAGINATION,  THE  TEMPLE  OF 

We  had  left  that  place  of  fancy,  and  had  reach'd  a 
star-lit  sea; 


190  A  POETS  CABINET 

And  across  its  dark,  deep  waters,  clouds,  like  smoke 

where  burned  the  lee, 
Clung  about  a  crystal  temple,  rising  from  the  surf  below 
Like  a  dawn  of  endless  promise  o'er  a  night  of  ended 

woe. 
Everywhere  behind  the  cloud-mist,  could  we  see  the 

temple  rise. 
Everywhere,  each  side  and  o'er  us,  till  we  lost  it  in  the 

skies. 
Then,  anon,  at  pearly  steps,  before  an  entrance  dim 

and  vast. 
In  some  way,  but  how  I  knew  not,  we  had  left  our 

car  at  last ; 
And  through   gold-mail'd  hosts  were  moving,  who 

would  part,  and  pass  us  on, 
Swept,  like  gods,  amid  a  glory  blazed  from  all  we 

gazed  upon. 
Toward  a  towering  portico,  a  cliff  of  shafts  that  up- 
ward went. 
Till  the  very  stars  appeared  to  trail  beneath  their 

pediment.  Idem,  xxv. 

Then  at  once  wide  doors  before  us  open'd  like  a  dawn- 
ing day. 

And  disclos'd  a  hall  resplendent,  sweeping  through 
long  leagues  away. 

All  about  it  clouds  of  incense  floated,  fringed  with 
golden  haze. 

And  within  them  lamps,  half -hidden,  shone  like  sparks 
amid  a  blaze; 

While  huge  caryatic  figures,  carved  on  columns  tall 
and  white, 

Filed  far  off  like  phantom  sentries  guarding  thus  a 
phantom  rite.  Idem,  xxvii. 

When,  behold,  high,  high  uplifted,  I  was  borne  along 

the  air. 
On  and  on,  with  slippery  speed,  far  sliding  still  to 

swifter  flight, 
Where  strode  by  us  tall,  white  columns,  like  gigantic 

ghosts  of  night; 
Where  high  arches  fell  and  rose  up  like  an  ocean  in  the 

sky, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  191 

And  bright  lamps  like  lines  of  lightning  on  the  clouded 

wall  flew  by. 
Then  more  steadfast  came  a  splendor,  and,  amid  the 

burning  air, 
Checks  that  gently  stay'd  our  progress,  in  a  domed 

rotunda  there.  Idem,  xxix. 

Broad  this  was  and  high,  heaved  heedless  of  that 

lavish'd  wealth  of  space. 
As  all  else  had  been, — a  marvel  even  in  that  marvellous 

place. 
Such  a  sight  creation's  dawning  might  have  seen,  when 

first  arose 
Morning  mists  to  end  the  night  of  an  eternity's  repose. 
All  the  pavement  gleam'd  as  bright  as  could  that  first 

chaotic  sea, 
When  it  floated  all  the  germs  of  all  the  beauty  3^et  to  be. 
And  the  shafts  that  held  the  dome,  and  seem'd  to  hold 

in  half  the  skies. 
Rose  with  lines  of  earthly  grace,  but  wondrous  in  their 

hues  and  size. 
Far  above  their  hazy  flutings  burst  in  blazing  capitals, 
Where  amid  encircling  glory  hovered  hosts  of  terminals. 
Did  they  live  or  not,  I  knew  not,  but  to  my  confused 

suspense 
Their  high  distance  made  them  holy;  and  I  bow'd  in 

reverence.  Idem,  xxx. 

IMAGINATION  VS.  PERCEPTION 

....  It's  easy  enough  to  see  through  things  if 
only  you  keep  your  eyes  open. 

....  And  your  imagination  at  work.  That's  im- 
portant. Like  working  beer,  it  sometimes  doubles  one's 
perceptive  powers.  What  Money  Can't  Buy,  11. 

IMITATION 

About  the  lips 
Found  sweet  by  merely  one,  all  swarm  like  bees. 
But  let  that  one  forsake  him  all  forsake  him. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 

IMITATION,   AS  A   RESULT  OF  LOVE 

"Ah,  strange  was  it 
That  oft  then  I  recall'd  your  form,  your  words? 


192  A  POETS  CABINET 

That  then  I  came  to  do  as  you  would  do, 

And  think  as  you  would  think? — or  that  my  tongue 

Should  linger  o'er  your  language,  as  o'er  sweets 

Re-tasted  still  again? — or  that,  anon. 

Those  accents  ardent  with  your  own  dear  aims, 

Should  fire  mine  own  to  ardor? — or  that  then 

My  soul  should  flash  forth  light  that  flamed  within, 

And  tracing  far  the  rays  that  left  it  so, 

Should  find  here— " 

"One  to  help  you,  friend?"  I  asked — 
Then  let  us  both  thank  heaven  that  made  us  weak 
So  may  a  mortal  pair  bide,  each  to  each. 
Both  priest  and  partner;  like  the  church,  their  home; 
For  what  are  churches  here  but  chosen  courts 
Of  One  pure  Spirit,  moving  all  to  love?  " 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxxiii. 

IMITATION  IN  MANNERS 

You  are  spending  most  of  your  time  now  in  taking  off 
the  manners  that  suit  your  own  character,  in  order  to 
put  on  those  that  suit  theirs.      Where  Society  Leads,  I. 

IMMATURE  THEORIES 

No  theory  spun  for  concepts  immature 
Can  ever  fit  their  full  maturity. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 

IMMORTALITY  (see  LIFE  AND  HEAVEN) 

Yet,   though   never   mortal   vision   saw   the   spirits' 

torches  flame. 
Or  the  white  of  robes  ethereal,  rustling  never  when 

they  came; 
Never  prest  the  hand  so  sacred  from  the  sacred  work 

it  plies; 
Never  watch 'd  the  light  of  heaven  within  those  peace- 
ful soul-lit  eyes ; 
Never  heard  that  distant  music,  which  can  hush  the 

seraph's  wings 
With  the  pathos  all  unconscious,  which  from  earth 

each  memory  brings; 
Though  no  saintly  guest  ere  blest  us  down  amid  these 

vales  below ; 
Or  unveil'd  for  us  that  beauty  which  no  eyes  of  earth 

can  know; 


That  oft  then  I  recall'd  your  form,  your  words? 
That  then  I  came  to  do  as  you  would  do, 
And  think  as  you  would  think? 


See  page  igi. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  193 

Still  our  souls  would  dream  about  it,  still  would  feel  its 

endless  charm, 
Drawing  all  the  good  within  us  toward  a  life  no  ill  can 
harm.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxxiii. 

Ah,  do  not  deny  the  soul  its  hopes  of  immortality; 
Where  did  ever  noblest  living  seek  a  lesser  destiny? 

Idem,  Dreaming,  xxxv. 

IMPATIENCE 

No  jerk 
Can  root  out  all  the  wrong  in  just  a  trice. 

Wherever  grain  can  ripen,  tares  must  lurk 
And  grow  till  harvest-time.     'T  was  Christ's  advice: 
Impatience  cannot  force  the  fruits  of  Paradise. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xx. 
IMPETUOUS  {see  anger,  self-control,  and  zeal) 

Too  impetuous 
And  stormy  was  the  temper  of  the  youth ; 
And  blustering  weather  blew  about  their  ears 
Who  cross'd  his  pathway,  like  November  winds 
That  shake  the  mad  red  leaves,  turn  pale  the  flowers, 
But  leave  the  vales  as  barren  as  a  waste. 
His  zeal  wrought  little.        A  Life  in  Song:  Note  2. 

IMPRESS   on   the   mind 

Nay,  no  land  shows  one  sunlit  scene 

That  rose-like  bursts  from  earth's  wide  green, 

But  brings  an  image  swept  away 

When  eyelids  close  at  close  of  day. 

'T  is  but  the  impress  mind  receives. 

That,  sunn'd  or  sombre,  never  leaves. 

My  Dream  at  Cordova. 

IMPULSE  AND  REASON  {see  REASON) 

My  head  would  oft,  made  jealous  of  my  heart, 
Deny  that  reason  ruled  my  impulses. 
And  oft  my  heart,  to  bear  such  weight  of  joy, 
Would  faint  from  too  much  feeling.    I  would  ask 
Could  I  be  sane  yet  find  my  life  so  sweet? — 
At  least  I  would  be  sure ;  so  like  a  friend 
Who  finds  a  long-lost  friend  amid  a  crowd. 
And  stares,  and  holds  him  at  arm's  length,  a  time, 
Ere  clasping  him  with  courage  to  his  breast 
That  wellnigh  btursts  the  while,  I  held  her  off, 
13 


194 


A  POET'S  CABINET 


This  long-sought  soul  that  mine  had  found  a  friend; 
And  did  not  dare  to  trust  her  as  I  would. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xix. 
My  heart  rose  up  from  reason  to  rebel ; 
Indignant  to  have  found  a  theory 
That  dared  to  hold  an  innate  impulse  down ; 
While  will,  caught  there,  betwixt  the  heart  and  head, 
Each  charge  would  bear,  and  yet  forbear  to  act. 

Idem,  XLii. 

INARTISTIC   EFFECTS,   HOW  AVOIDED 

The  only  sure  way  of  learning  how  to  avoid  in- 
artistic effects,  is  to  learn  positively  how  to  produce 
artistic  ones.  Rhythm  and  Harmony,  ix. 

INDEPENDENCE  OF  NEIGHBORS 

You  and  I  like  to  be  independent  of  our  neighbors, 
especially  of  any  whom  we  think  to  be  particularly 
self-centered.  But  one  who  tries  to  be  independent  of 
even  such  neighbors,  when,  by  another  course,  he  could 
make  something  out  of  them,  is  not  acting  the  part 
of  a  wise  man.  National  Probity. 

INDEPENDENCE  OF  SOCIETY 

....  I  think  you  women  ought  to  show  a  little 
more  independence. 

....  But  society — 

....  I  suppose  society — some  kinds  of  it — might 
let  you  alone.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

INDEPENDENCE  OF  THOUGHT  {see  FREEDOM) 

Full  many  are  paths  where  life  can  guide  us. 
Whichever  we  take  from  some  they  divide  us. 
Wherever  we  go,  and  follow  men  not. 
No  slight  of  their  leading  is  ever  forgot; 

The  best  of  our  deeds  is  quoted  as  bad; 
Once  John  seem'd  a  devil;  and  Jesus  a  sot. 
Our  toil — what  of  it? — is  lonely  and  sad. 
But  God  made  us  all,  in  spite  of  the  throng 
Who  deem  us,  if  not  like  themselves,  made  wrong. 

Love  and  Life,  xxxviii. 
For  God  has  given  you  your  own  moods,  friend; 
And  are  you  not  responsible  for  them? 
And  if  you  yield  them  up  too  readily. 
Not  meaning  wrong,  yet  may  you  not  mistake? 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  195 

Our  lives,  remember,  are  not  sounding-boards, 
Not  senseless  things,  resounding  for  a  world 
That  nothing  new  can  find  in  what  we  give. 
If  one  but  echo  back  another's  note. 
Can  he  give  forth  God's  message  through  his  own? 

Haydn,  xvi. 

INDIANS 

Weill 
Take  any  man  who  flushes  red  all  over, 
As  they  do  when  I  meet  them,  for  a  foe. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 
INDIVIDUAL  (see  SOCIAL,  and  also  society  i;^.  indi- 
vidual) 
individuality  of  thought 
And  when  the  thought  is  in  one,  when  it  springs, 
Why,  then,  not  let  it  spring?     The  world  is  not 
So  fill'd  with  thoughts  that  it  can  spare  our  own. 
And  if  we  startle  folks,  jog  off  the  guise 
Of  their  deceit,  we  spy  them  as  they  are. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xvill. 

We  all  when  in  our  noblest  moods 
Crave  homage  for  our  souls'  nobility. 
But  what  our  souls  are  in  themselves,  who  know, 
Save  as  our  roles  report  us  outwardly? 
Did  not  divine  hands  form  us  as  we  are? 
Who  love  us  as  we  are,  love  higher  things 
Than  those  who  love  what  earth  would  make  of  us. 

Idem. 

INDULGENCE,  ONE  PHASE  SUBSTITUTED  FOR  ANOTHER 

....  Instead  of  beer,  then,  I  suppose  the  women 
would  give  us  candy. 

....  And,  with  it,  dyspepsia. 

....  And  with  dyspepsia  whiskey,  as  its  cure. 

....  And,  if  not  cured,  dyspeptic  dispositions  that 
damn  one's  home  life  more  than  drunkenness. 

....  Make  drunkenness  in  those  they  drive  from 
home.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 

INEFFICIENCY 

Power  and  wealth 
Both  loom  before  you.    When  I  tell  it  you. 
And  strive  to  urge  you  toward  them,  you,  blind  loot, 


196  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Squat,  blinking  like  an  owl;  or,  if  you  stir, 
But  flutter,  blunder,  miss  your  aim,  and  fall 
From  off  the  very  branch,  the  topmost  branch, 
You  ought  to  perch  upon.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

INFALLIBLE 

Yet,  all  may  fail  of  truth ;  none  fail  like  those 
Who  deem  themselves  the  most  infallible : 
None  more  than  men  who,  fallible  in  proof, 
Yet  flout  the  failure  of  a  woman's  guess. 

Haydn,  xvi. 

INFERENCE 

That  facts  are  facts  is  plain  without  explaining. 

To  know  things  grow,  we  need  not  know  their  method. 

To  think  things  handiwork,  we  need  not  see 

The  hand  that  does  the  work.  Dante,  ii.,  2. 

INFERIOR 

True  men  are  never  sent 
By  their  inferior.  They  will  face  him  down ; 
And  not  turn  tail  like  driven  beasts  of  burden. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

INFIDEL 

The  infidel  is  one  who  does  not  trust 
The  power  that  made  and  moves  the  soul  within. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

INFIDELITY    TO    SELF 

Grand  it  is,  to  know  that  mortals,  though  their  deeds 

appear  their  own, 
When  aroused  in  noblest  effort  never  need  to  toil 

alone. 
When  athirst  for  good,  we  turn  to  springs  that  in  the 

soul  well  high 
And  within  their  depths  reflected  see  a  fairer  earth  and 

sky, 
Grand  it  is  to  feel  that  visions  making  all  our  powers 

aspire 
Mirror  oft  the  truth  above  us  imaged  thus  to  bless 

desire. 
And  if  heaven,  indeed,  have  moved  us,  when  our  spirit 

so  is  awed, 
Infidelity  to  self  is  infidelity  to  God. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xiii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  197 

INFLUENCE 

Yet  why  judge  influence  by  what  most  men  prize? 

Must  that  which  leads  the  spirit  have  recourse 

To  what  attracts  to  station,  or  to  guise? 

Naught   draws  life  heavenward   like   the   sunlight's 

force. 
But  sunlight  never  blest  one  man  with  eyes 
Lured  but  to  gaze  upon  its  blinding  source. 

Influence. 

INFLUENCE,  BEING  AN 

Think  not  I  lived  my  life 
To  beg  men  for  a  badge  to  brag  about ! 
Enough,  if  I  have  been  an  influence. 

Columbus,  v.,  2. 

INFLUENCE,   WHEN   UNSYMPATHETIC 

Some  minds  that  try 
To  be  in  touch  with  ours  but  tickle  them; 
Or  vex  an  itching  that  can  merely  fret  us. 
Withal,  too,  they  but  scratch  the  brain's  outside; 
And  then,  as  if  they  took  the  hair  for  thought, 
Exhibit  this,  when  tossed  and  puffed,  as  proving 
How  they  themselves  have  thus  our  brain  developed. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

INNER  MEANING,  THE  {see  INWARD,  OUTWARD,  and 

spiritual) 
What  then  remains  for  life? — If  one  have  aimed 
For  outward  profit,  nothing.    If  his  thought 
Have  always,  through  the  outer,  sought  the  inner, 
Then,  not  alone,  the  stars  that  shine  on  high 
May  all  prove  beacons,  guiding  on  and  on 
To  havens  holding  glories  infinite. 
But  each  frail  flower  that  blooms  for  but  an  hour 
May  store  in  memory  an  ideal  of  beauty, 
A  sense  of  sweetness,  that  shall  never  leave  him. 

West  Mountain. 

INNOCENT   FEARFUL   OF   SUSPICION 

If  he  himself  have  done  what  makes  him  guilty,  we 
shall  frighten  him;  and,  if  he  haven't  done  it,  we  shall 
frighten  him  still  more.  It  takes  the  surprising  in  this 
world  to  make  the  startling.  Spiritualists  aren't 
afraid  of  ghosts,  because  they  have  got  ready  for 


198  A  POET'S  CABINET 

them;  and,  ten  times  to  one,  the  innocent  are  more 
afraid  of  being  suspected  than  the  guilty  are  of  being 
detected.  The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  iii. 

INSANE 

I  had  a  cousin  once  who  went  insane, 
And  all  his  family  had  to  play  insane 
To  keep  him  company.    The  sport  was  royal 
Till,  sure  that  he  was  royal  and  they  slaves, 
He  ordered  off  their  heads. 
....  And  then? 

....  And  then 

They  left  off  playing,  and  made  war  on  him; 
And  so  dethroned  him.    They  should  do  so  here. 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 
INSANITY  {see  madness) 
Lest,  if  my  cup  of  fear  I  fill, 
Insanity,  the  glee  of  ill. 
Shall  rave  upon  the  throne  of  will. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xil. 
insensibility  to  sorrow 
Why,  I  thought  her  tears  would  melt  away  her  very 
face.    Humph!     Curse  your  soul!    To  see  that  sight 
and  not  grow  sentimental,  one  should  be  devoid  of 
senses  not  alone,  but  sense.     On  Detective  Duty,  ill. 

INSIDE  THE  SOUL 

....  You  think  that  any  soul  can  ever  see  what 
lies  inside  another? 

....  No ;  not  if  it  lies.  It  ought  to  stand  up  to  be 
seen.  The  Two  Paths,  I. 

INSIGHT   AND   INSPIRATION 

Though  no  new  message  may  inspire  them,  insight 
May  often  read  through  oldest  form  new  meaning. 

Dante,  iii.,  2. 

INSPIRATION 

In  the  soul's  profoundest  depth  when  all  without  is 

dim  and  still. 
Oft  a  breath  of  inspiration  lights  a  flame  to  guide  the  will ; 
And  the  men  who  grope  in  darkness,  where  the  gloom 

may  lead  astray. 
By  this  flame  aglow  within  them  read  some  signals  of 

the  way ; 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  199 

Nor  pursue  mere  flash  and  shadow ;  oft  for  those  who 

still  press  on, 
Outward  light  will  dawn  far  brighter  than  the  soul's 

it  shines  upon. 
Then,  when  inward  love  is  kindled  and  the  outward 

doubts  dissolve, 
Safe  within  a  mystic  orbit  doubly  blest  our  souls 

revolve, 
Safe  in  life's  completed  orbit,  where  from  faith  they 

move  to  sight. 
From  the  truth  within  to  truth  that  floods  the  cosmos 

with  its  light. 
But,  alas,  outside  the  orbit  only  gloom  and  grief  have 

sway. 
Heaven  preserve  us  all  from  straying,  guide  our  wish 

and  guide  our  way, 
Join  for  us  the  lost  connection,  where  all  nature's 

currents  blend 
With  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xiv. 

Is  mind  a  deep  that  wells  with  most  of  thought 

When  void  the  most?     I  tell  you  none  can  draw 

A  truthful  inspiration  save  from  truth. 

The  poet's  ken  may  people  heaven  like  clouds, 

All  phantom  shaped,  and  splendid  as  their  sun; 

But  all  his  fairest  forms  were  vapors  first 

That  heaven  drew,  mist-like,  from  the  earth  beneath. 

Thought  decks  itself  in  holiday  attire, — 

Turns  fantasy, — to  expend  the  inertia  large 

Of  large  reserves  of  philosophic  force. 

Forced  into  play,  the  night's  dream  opening  where 

The  day's  work  closes.  Ideals  Made  Real,  liii. 

The  one  sure  proof  of  inspiration  is 
That  it  inspires.  Dante,  11.,  i. 

INSPIRATIONS 

The  thoughts  that  live  like  spirits  in  the  words. 
And  save  our  own  thought  through  what  they  incar- 
nate! Idem,  I.,  I. 

INSPIRATION   vs.   IMAGINATION 

Inspiration  is  of  the  depths.    It  has  to  do  with  that 
which   comes  from   within.     Imagination  is  of   the 


200  A  POET'S  CABINET 

surface.  It  has  to  do  with  that  which  is  mirrored 
from  without.  In  rehgion  the  predominating  rela- 
tionship is  to  a  source  beyond  human  control;  in 
art,  a  source  within  human  control  is  of  equal 
importance. 

The  Representative  Significance  of  Form,  vii. 

INSPIRING  POWER  (see  spirit) 
Deep  underneath  our  nature  is  a  power 
That  pushing  forth  through  soil  and  seed  and  flower, 
Moves  on  and  out  through  all  of  sentient  life, 
And  struggles  most  in  man;  nor  can  the  strife 
Be  ended  ever,  till  the  force  controls 
The  last  least  impulse  that  impels  our  souls. 
E'en  then  this  power,  inspiring  words  and  deeds. 
Though  check'd,  at  times,  in  customs  or  in  creeds, 
Anon  bursts  through  all  these  to  show  the  stress 
Of  that  behind  them  which  would  thus  express 
Through  finite  forms  that  it  is  limitless. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xil. 

INSTINCT 

What  is  this  instinct,  that  it  should  not  lie? 
If  one  should  feel  the  instinct  of  the  lamb 
While  skipping  to  welcome  the  butcher's  knife 
That  waits  to  slaughter  it,  would  he  be  wise 
To  follow  instinct? 

"Why  not?"  answer'd  he: 
"The  lamb  was  made  that  it  might  die  for  man: 
It  follows  instinct  and  dies  easily. 
The  soul  was  made  that  it  might  live  for  God: 
It  follows  instinct  and  lives  happily. " 

Haydn,  xlix. 

May  there  not  be 
Some  depth,  beyond  the  reach  of  mortal  sight, 
Within  whose  grooves  unseen  our  spirits  glide 
Unconscious  of  the  balancings  of  will? 
God's  touch  may  be  too  subtle  to  be  sensed. 
Ma}^  it  not  stir  beneath  all  conscious  powers, 
A  spontaneity  that  moves  the  soul 
As  instinct  moves  the  body? — Ah,  to  me, 
Love  seems  an  instinct  that  impels  them  both. 

Idem. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  201 

INTENTIONS  {see  MEANT) 

He  intended  well ; 
But  good  intentions,  if  they  be  not  mail'd 
In  prudence  and  well  train 'd  to  self-control, 
Are  no  more  fitted  to  contend  with  wrong 
Than  half-stripp'd  serfs  with  steel-clad  veterans. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  2. 

INTUITION,  RULING  BY 

When  one  rules  by  intuition,  the  right  is  made  right 
by  one  person's  thinking.  That  is  the  devil's  excuse 
for  deviltry;  and,  where  a  tyrant  rules,  for  tyranny. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

INVESTIGATION 

The  time  to  see  the  feathers  on  a  wing 
Is  not  the  while  it  flies;  no,  no;  and  not 
While  playing  sleight  of  hand  to  see  the  fingers. 

Dante,  11.,  2. 

INWARD  CONSCIOUSNESS 

A  force  conjured 
From  inward  consciousness  of  mind  and  body, 
With  all  the  doubts  that  shadowed  thought  in  one, 
And  nerves  that  stirred  revulsion  in  the  other, 
As  if  to  make  my  spirit  fly  as  far 
From  fellow-spirits  as  those  mountain  hights 
Were  far  from  all  that  should  be  in  one's  home? 

West  Mountain. 

INWARD  vs.  THE  OUTWARD  IN  HUMAN  LIFE 

Oh,  there  are  views  of  life  that  so  depend 
On  inward  entity  at  work  beneath 
The  whole  that  has  been,  or  that  can  be,  shown 
In  what  men  merely  see  or  hear  or  clutch, 
That  each  and  all  seem  hollow  as  mere  husks. 
To-day  a  man  is  young,  to-morrow,  old; 
To-day  in  health,  to-morrow  in  disease; 
To-day  enthroned,  to-morrow  in  his  grave; 
And  not  alone  to  man  these  changes  come. 
The  earth,  our  home,  that  so  enduring  seems, 
The  sun  and  stars  that  light  it  from  above 
Belong  but  to  a  camp,  set  up  to-day, 
And,  on  the  morrow,  fell'd  and  flung  aside. 

Idem. 


202  A  POETS  CABINET 

Before  the  day,  beyond  the  day, 

Above  the  suns  that  roll, 
There  was  a  light,  there  waits  a  light 

That  never  leaves  the  soul.         Cecil  the  Seer,  II.,  2. 

An  eye,  when  seeing  the  sphere  of  being, 
May  look  out  through  the  senses,  or  else  look  in; 

But  looks  each  way,  toward  a  different  goal. 

Toward  hell  through  senses  and  heaven  through  soul. 
Who  searches  without,  and  not  within. 

He  thinks  the  good  far  off  that  is  near; 

And  sees  no  heaven  tho'  heaven  be  here. 
If  that  which  he  worship  be  worldly  pelf. 

Oh,  he  knows  not  what  souls  have  got 
Whose  God  is  the  God  of  the  inward  self. 

Love  and  Life,  xxxii. 

IRELAND 

Too  slowly  sail'd  our  friend  those  waters  o'er. 
Until  one  sunny  morn  their  outlines  bent 

On  purple  downs  of  Ireland's  fertile  shore. 
That  paradise  beyond  the  ocean,  dreary 

With  endless  restlessness  of  roll  and  spray, — 
Could  any  dream  relieve  the  eyelids  weary 

More  restful  than  the  hills  encircling  Queenstown 
Bay! 
Or  where  could  fairer  bands  of  fairies  arm 

Than  Spenser  spied  on  those  fair  banks  of  Lee! 
Or  how  could  beauty  bear  one  other  charm 

Where  Lake  Killarney  rock'd  Kate  Kearney's  glee! 
Rare  isle! — but  ah,  were  nature's  gifts  expended 

Ere  here  she  reach'd  the  boons  the  soul  demands? 
Or  wast  thou  left  by  wealth  and  rank  unfriended, 

To  make  thy  sons ,  fled  hence ,  all  friends  of  other  lands  ? 

Oh  Ireland,  Ireland,  would  some  power  divine 

Could  point  the  way  to  free  thy  peasantry 
From  all  that  fetters  those  proud  souls  of  thine 

In  bonds  of  ignorance  and  poverty ! 
Yet  still  hope  on!     For  thee,  tho'  progress  falters, 

The  light  shall  come  for  which  thy  children  pine. 
Which  long  on  other  lands'  less  favor'd  altars 

Has  fanned  the  brightest  life  from  hearts  less  warm 
than  thine. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  203 

Past  leaden  Dublin  and  her  silvery  bay 

The  traveller  trod  the  lowly  banks  of  Erne; 
Then  dream 'd  in  Londonderry  of  the  day 

When    Walker's   breath   made   hope   extinguish'd 
bum; 
Then  climb'd  the  Giant's  Causeway,   thrill'd  with 
thinking, 
How  round  those  cliffs  like  Coliseums  grand, 
Once  o'er  the  ships  of  Spain's  armada  sinking, 

His  wave-swept  organ  roar'd  its  Irish  reprimand! 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxx-xxxiii. 

JAIL 

One  should  always  fear  the  hand 
That  taps  a  leaking  jail  to  flood  its  faction. 
Who  breaks  one  law  may  live  to  break  another, 

Dante,  i.,  2. 
You 
Will  have  your  crew;  for  they  have  found  a  source 
Beyond  exhausting. 
....  What  is  that? 

....  The  jail. 

Which,  like  an  Arab-shirt  turned  inside  out, 
Will  shake  its  lice  upon  you.        Columbus,  iii.,  i. 
JAR  OF  LIFE  (see  worry) 
'Tis  not  the  rolling  of  the  years  that  leaves  men 
oldest;  but  their  jar.     A  few  find   places  made  for 
them;  but  some  are  never  placed,  and  all  the  tally  of 
their  score  is  marked  by  scratches  kept  upon  them- 
selves.    A  boy  that  life  has  knocked  about  is  older, 
sometimes,  than  a  gray-beard. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  11. 

JEALOUSIES 

But  soon,  like  worms  that  would  not  wait  for  death. 
Fear-fretted  jealousies  clung  round  the  form 
Of  dying  hope.  Ideals  Made  Real,  xxv. 

JEALOUSY  (see  envy) 

Love,  if  shorn  of  jealousy, 
Drops  half  its  charms,  like  maids  whose  locks  are 

clipped. 
And  better  might  be  boys,  or  bald-head-babes. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 


204  ^  POET'S  CABINET 

Chewing  on  the  cud  of  jealousy 
Is  not  a  pleasant  practice  for  one's  friends. 
For  though  you  give  them  naught  to  work  upon, 
So  much  the  more  the  grinders  work  away 
And  grind  themselves  the  sharper, — ay,  and  grind 
The    words    that    pass    them   too — made    sharp    as 

arrows 
To  pierce  the  soul  they  hit.  Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 

You,  you  have  genius,  brains; 
And  those  without  them  must  get  even  with  you, 
If  not  by  higher  then  by  lower  means. 
You  are  original  and  they  derived; 
And  thought  full-centered  in  itself,  owns  not 
A  parentage  that  puts  another  first. 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 
Who   wants 
To  blacken  Spain  with  shade  from  Genoa? 

Idem,  v.,  I. 
....  Of  all  inane  performances,  the  worst  is  trying 
to  call  back  a  wandering  love  by  sending  out  a  messen- 
ger disguised  in  robes  of  hatred,  as  the  jealous  do. 

The  Two  Paths,  11. 

JEW 

Might  not  His  will, 
Intent  on  purposes  He  would  fulfil 
Through  human  means,  at  first  selections  make, 
And  guard  the  truth, — not  wholly  for  the  sake 
Of  Israel;  nor  for  an  exclusive  cause, — 
By  one  peculiar  people's  life  and  laws? 
And  where  in  all  of  history,  tho'  one  traces 
Amid  all  kinds  of  castes  and  clans  and  races. 
Is  ever  found  a  stabler  element? — 
Of  all  the  men  against  mutation  bent. 
In  spite  of  court  or  church  or  sword  or  flame, 
But  one,  the  Jew,  forever  stays  the  same. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xxvil. 
If  Jews,  who  read  His  law  and  sacrificed. 
Were  saved  by  faith  in  Him;  the  uncircumcised 
With  faith  in  Him  would  scarce  unheeded  go. 
Because  they  but  the  higher  law  could  know. 

Idem,  XXVIII. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  205 

JOBS,  BAD 

Bad  jobs  are  near  their  best 
When  nearest  ended.        The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i . 

JOKE,  RECEIVING  ONE 

There  is  only  one  way  in  which  to  receive  a 
joke,  and  not  be  hurt  by  it.  One  must  himself 
be  able  to  make  light  of  it. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  i. 

JOURNEYING,  AS  REVEALING  CHARACTER 

Our  natures  are  much  like  buckets — slop  over 
the  most  when  jolted.  And  what  jolts  more  than 
a  journey?  No  wise  man  swallows  his  physic 
until  he  has  had  it  well  shaken. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 
JOY  {see  enjoyment) 
Heaven  would  let  the  devil  never 
Rile  clear  springs  that  gush  and  ever 
Thus  refresh  our  faint  endeavor. 
Our  own  spirit,  when  too  near  it, 
Taints  the  good  that  comes  to  cheer  it : 
We  debase  until  we  fear  it, 
Joy  that  was  not  meant  to  curse  us, 
But  to  nerve  us  and  to  nurse  us. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxiv. 

JOY  IN  GREAT  THINGS 

The  great  things  in  the  world  are  very  few ;  and  those 
that  find  their  joy  in  them  alone  can  find  but  little 
joy  in  anything.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

JUDGE 

A  good  judge  is  a  man  whose  judgments  you 
Approve.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

JUDGMENT,    MEN   PRAISED  FOR 

Humph!  I  have  found 
The  men  most  praised  for  judgment  are  the  men 
Most  echoing  others'  judgments.    Thus,  forsooth, 
They  make  their  own  appear  approved  by  all. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

JUSTICE 

When  mercy  fails 
The  cause  is  lost  that  does  not  call  on  justice. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 


2o6  A  POETS  CABINET 

Justice  due  to  each 
Never  can  be  gain'd,  till  each  is  free  to  claim  his  due 
in  speech.         A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxi. 

JUSTICE,    NOT    INVOLVING    PUNISHMENT 

....  That  does  not  give  the  guilty  their  deserts. 
....  Not  punishment  that  often  merely  shifts 
one's  load  of  guilt  on  shoulders  of  another;  not  that, 
perhaps;  and  yet  it  may  give  justice — the  only  justice 
due  from  man  to  man.  All  justice  fails  that  does  not 
make  men  better.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ill. 

KISS  (see  lips) 
One  kiss  of  yours  could  make  the  thrilling  lips 
Go  fluttering  all  day  long  like  Cupid's  wings 
To  bear  sweet  words  of  love  to  all  they  meet. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ill.,  i. 
Yet  oh,  a  fiend  too 
Might  deem  it  sweet 
To  know  of  a  soul  to  his  own  soul  true; 

And  if  their  lips  were  to  meet, 
I  think  in  the  swoon  that  followed  that  kiss, 
They  might  die  to  wrong,  and  awake  in  bliss. 

Love  and  Life,  xxviii. 

KNAVES 

Some  go  as  far  astray  through  ignorance 
As  through  ill-meaning.    I  would  rather  have 
One  shrewd  knave's  counsel  than  ten  pious  dunces'. 

Dante,  ill.,  i. 
If  you  can  call  them  men, — 
These  creatures,  whom  a  life-long  fear  of  light 
Has  trained  for  treachcr}'  stabbing  in  the  dark; 
Sneaks,  too  irresolute  and  indolent 
To  push  by  worthy  means  to  worthy  ends. 
But  I  would  trust  in  waves  adrift  for  hell 
As  much  as  in  a  rudder  held  by  knaves. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 

KNOWLEDGE  VS.  FAITH   {see  FAITH) 

Can  aught  that  leads  our  souls  toward  life  above 
Train  human  worth  by  knowledge  more  than  love? 
If  but  to  know,  gave  souls  their  victory, 
Where  were  the  need  of  faith,  hope,  charity? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xlvii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  207 

KNOWLEDGE  VS.   PROPERTY 

Wherever  gains  depend  the  most  on  brains,  to  know 
may  make  men  richer  than  to  have. 

The  Two  Paths,  i. 

KNOWLEDGE  VS.  STRENGTH 

Strength  speeds  the  feet,  but  knowledge  aims  the  bow, 
And  where  the  one  but  just  begins  the  race, 
The  arrows  of  the  other  cleave  the  goal. 

The  Aztec  God,  v. 

KICKING    WOMEN 

You  know,  I  never  like  to  see  a  woman  kick.  Her 
dress  doesn't  go  with  it.  It  seems  as  if  she  ought  to 
trip  up ;  or,  if  she  doesn't  do  it  of  herself,  be  made  to  do 
it  by  somebody  else.         What  Money  Can't  Buy,  i. 

KINDNESS  BRINGING  PAIN 

Have  you  not  felt  how  much  more  pain  it  gives, 

This  pain  from  kindness?     Love  is  like  the  sun: 

It  brightens  life,  but  yet  may  parch  it  too. 

And  wind  may  blow,  and  man  may  screen  himself; 

And  rain  may  fall,  and  he  may  shelter  find; 

And  frost  may  chill,  and  he  may  clothing  wear; 

But  what  can  ward  off  sun-stroke? — Love, 

Its  first  degree  may  bring  fertility; 

Its  next  one  barrenness.    It  lights;  it  blights. 

The  flames  of  heaven,  flash'd  far  and  spent,  turn  smoke 

To  glut  the  gloom  of  hell.  Haydn,  xxviii. 

KINGS 

No  people  crown  new  kings  like  Saul,  I  see, 
Till,  made  slaves  by  men,  they  fear  them  more  than 
God  who  makes  all  free. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  ix. 

KINGS  AND  PRIESTS 

But  what  were  life  without  its  discipline? 
And  what  are  kings  and  priests  for  but  to  give  it? 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 
LABOR  (see  work) 
Long  will  those  controlling  labor,  loving  money  more 

than  man. 
Crush  as  grapes  are  crush'd  for  vintage  all  the  growth 
of  all  they  can. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxi. 


208  A  POET'S  CABINET 

LABORS 

Though  hard  she  wrought,  her  touch  made  all  her 

labors 
Like  works  of  art.         A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xii. 

LAKES,  THE  ENGLISH 

Then  pass'd  his  feet  to  where  he  spied  on  high 

Helvellyn's   crest  wise   Wordsworth's  haunts  an- 
nounce; 
Where  bright,  susceptive  lakes  like  mirrors  vie 

To  swell  the  charms  of  else  unrivall'd  mounts; 
And  sudden  brooklets,  purling  each  a  story, 

Dash  down  each  ledge,  and  dodge  through  every 
brake, 
From  peaks  like  broken  fragments  dropt  from    glory 
Whose  heaven-trail'd  clouds  will  not  their  sk3'like 
cliffs  forsake. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxxviil. 

LANGUAGE   VS.    ACTIONS    (see   WORDS) 

Mere  lips  can  form  our  words;  our  actions  are  con- 
formed to  head  and  heart.  Men  hear  our  language, 
but  our  life  they  heed.  No  testimony  ever  could  seem 
weaker  because  of  cords  that  bind  the  soul  to  it. 

The  Two  Paths,  ii. 

LAUGHTER  (see  RIDICULE) 

The  best  of  physics 
For  seriousness  is  laughter.    Where  is  bile, 
Well  tickled  throats  will  throw  it  up. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 
A  fount  of  laughter  now  that  sprang  within, 
O'er-rill'd  her  lips  and  rippled  round  her  guise, 
The  very  train's  hem  shaken  b}'-  the  flow. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxiv. 
Charmed  at  this,  I  bent  me  nearer;  but  dismay!  off 

dodged  the  toy, 
Shaken  like  a  note  of  laughter  from  the  bounding 

breath  of  joy. 
"Cruel  thing,"   I  cried,  provoked  then;  "weazen'd 

witchery  of  delight, 
Far  too  fine  for  eyes  to  find  you,  why  should  you  have 
crossed  their  sight!" 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  209 

A  man  who  loved  a  "yes,"  but  dared  say  "no"; 
Strict,  yet  with  smiles;  and  gay  yet  earnest  too. 

'T  was  said  his  life  had  weather'd  many  a  blow; 
Still  was  it  staunch :  when  gales  of  laughter  blew, 
To  hold  one's  own  with  him  was  more  than  most  could 
do.  Idem,  Daring,  lii. 

LAW    MADE    FOR    DEEDS    NOT    MOTIVES 

....  We  only  meant ■ 

....  The  laws  are  made  for  what  men  do,  not 
what  they  mean  to  do.  No  law  could  ever  find  that 
out.  The  Two  Paths,  in. 

LAW   NO   CURE   FOR   DEVILTRY 

No  law 
Can  legislate  the  devil  out  of  life. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i . 

LAW,  TAKING  IT  INTO  ONE's  OWN  HANDS 

The  man  who  tries  to  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands 
is  tackling  what  is  larger  than  himself,  and  it  may 
throw  him.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

LAWLESSNESS 
In  lands  where  law  supports  the  right,  to  seek 
To  rise  by  breaking  legal  barriers 
Is  worse  than  climbing  up  a  dizzy  stair 
By  leaning  on  a  broken  bannister.     Dante,  i.,  2. 

LAWS 

Would  God  we  all  could  free  ourselves  from  laws; 
But  half  our  lives  we  spend  in  learning  them; 
And  half  in  learning  how  to  love  them  then. 
And  but  in  souls  that  learn  life's  laws  by  heart, 
Has  wisdom,  so  it  seems,  a  sway  complete. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxiii. 

....  You  sent  Bill  Jones  to  jail. 

....  He  broke  the  laws. 

....  And  what  of  that? 

....  Why,  man,  the  laws  are  rails  that  keep 
the  world's  great  train  of  civilization  on  the  track. 
You  break  them,  and  you  ditch  the  train,  check 
progress,  baffle  enterprise,  and  maim  or  kill  the 
passengers. 

....  It  is  the  laws  are  maiming  us. 
14 


210  A  POETS  CABINET 

....  Then  change  them.  You've  the  right. 
That's  why  I  like  this  country. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iii.,  2. 

LAWS,  APPLY  TO  OUTWARD  NOT  INWARD  LIFE 

....  No  cruelty  is  too  incongruous  to  cap  what 
rests  on  fundamental  error.  The  error  of  herself  and 
kind  is  this, — the  notion  that  a  man-made  outward 
law — law  made  by  government — can  reach  and  rule, 
not  outward  deeds  alone,  but  inward  moods.  You 
grant  this,  law  can  be  responsible  for  what  men  do, 
and  also  what  they  may  do. 

....  Then  law  could  punish  both  for  crimes  found 
out,  and  for  such  things  as  some  one  had  imagined. 

....  Of  course  it  could;  and  so  could  be  unjust. 
The  object  of  a  law,  when  wise  and  just,  is  this, — to 
keep  down  outward  wrong,  promote  sobriety  and 
honesty 

....  But  how  about  reforms? 

....  They  flourish  when  you  get  the  right  condi- 
tion,— outward  peace.  Get  that,  and  then,  in  part 
because  of  this  condition,  but  never  due  to  law  except 
in  part,  men's  minds  can  hear  and  serve  that  still  small 
voice  to  which  all  true  advance  in  home,  school,  shop, 
asylum,  hospital,  or  social  life  is  really  due. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

LAWS,  DETERMINED  BY  PUBLIC  SENTIMENT 

Where  did  you  learn  that  all  the  people  make  the 
laws;  or  that  the  women  have  no  share  in  making 
them?  All  the  laws,  I  know,  are  made  by  legislators, 
or  congressmen,  who  represent  the  people.  Nor  do 
they  represent  the  thoughts  alone  of  men  who  vote, 
but  public  sentiment,  including  thoughts  of  mothers, 
daughters,  wives,  impressed  in  home,  school,  church, 
society,  on  men  whose  interests  are  the  same  as  theirs, 
and,  touched  upon  their  sympathetic  side,  may  be 
more  loyal  than  if  voted  for. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

LEADER 

The  wind  swept  toward  him,  and  the  sunlight  glanced 
From  his  bright  armor,  but  the  smoke  and  dust 
Hid  all  his  comrades  in  a  train  august 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  211 

Trailed  from  him,  as  in  splendor  he  advanced. 
We  deemed  him  leader,  yet  he  merely  chanced 
To  be  where  all  things  round  him  could  adjust 
To  his  position  wind  and  sun,  and  thrust 
On  him  a  prominence  naught  else  enhanced. 
Oh  blame  not  wind  or  sun,  nor  envy  him! 
What  though  the  world  too  highly  rate  his  worth? 
Who,  who,  for  this,  would  choose  a  role  so  mean, 
So  distant  from  the  clouds  that  always  dim 
The  central  fight? — It  is  one  law  of  earth 
That  godlike  leaders  work,  like  God,  unseen. 

The  Leader. 
A  leader,  if  he  lead  not,  shames  his  birthright. 

The  Aztec  God,  ii. 

LEADER  IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  TRUTH 

He  who  leads  men  up,  himself  must  mount 

Where  he  appears  above  them. 

....  How  and  where 

He  mounts,  depends  on  that  in  which  he  leads. 

A  leader  in  the  truth  would  better  kneel 

Upon  the  footstool  of  a  throne,  than  sit 

Upon  it,  crowned  by  falsehood.     Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

LEADERS 

The  greatest  victory  may  be  quickest  won ; 

And  they  who  happen  to  be  in  the  lead 

Are  hailed  as  leaders,  and  the  rest  as  led. 

But,  oh,  the  work,  ere  fighting  had  begun! 

The  drill!  the  foresight! — Well,  some  men  succeed, 

And  some  do  not,  and  soon  will  all  be  dead. 

The  Chance  that  Comes  to  Every  Man. 

LEADING,   AND   BEING   LED   BY,   A   LIFE 

I  fear  that,  by-and-by,  you  may  become  a  mere 
machinist,  mesmerized  by  watching  mere  wheels 
that  whiz  and  whirl  till  you  forget  the  work  that  they 
should  further.  We  men  talk  of  leading  such  and 
such  a  life,  but  life  is  far  too  large  for  any  man  to 
lead.     He  binds  himself  to  it,  and  it  leads  him. 

The  Two  Paths,  l. 

LEARNING  {see  KNOWLEDGE) 

Long  will  those  controlling  nations  fear,  if  learning  be 
dispers'd, 


212  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Men  who  serve  them  Hke  the  brutes  will  learn  to  know 
themselves  accurst. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxi. 

LETTER   OF  THE  LAW 

....  Did  one  merely  waive 

The  letter  of  the  law,  what  could  be  harmed? 
....  One'sconscience,  if  he  went  against  the  law, — 
One's  heed  of  right.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

LETTER  vs.  SPIRIT 

But  I,  though  yielding  to  her,  as  it  seem'd, 
Made  loose  the  letter  for  the  sake  of  spirit; 
Nor  promised  aught.       Ideals  Made  Real,  LX. 
LIARS  (see  truth) 
"The  young — the  prejudiced" — 
"For  their  sake,"  said  he,  "wisdom  may  be  wise 
In  what  it  screens  from  folly. — Yet  you  know 
The  crime  of  Socrates, — 'corrupting  youth'? 
The  tale  is  old;  this  lying  world  wants  liars, 
But  what  of  that?    The  Christs  lie  not:  they  die." 

Haydn,  xxvii. 
liberty  (see  freedom  and  mob) 
You  fear  that  skies  aglow  with  liberty 
Attend  some  sun  that  sets  in  anarchy. 
Alas,  too  often  men  mistake  the  light 
Of  coming  day  for  that  of  coming  night. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xliv. 
Those  yet  possess  heaven's  liberty, 
Whose  minds  are  not  in  slavery. 

Idem,  Doubting,  xxi. 
Live  self,  but  live  not  for  self.    Not  for  one, 
For  all  of  us  the  truth  brings  liberty; 
For  our  own  spirits,  when  we  serve  the  right. 
Free  wishes,  hearts,  and  hands;  for  others  charity. 

Idem,  XLi. 
liberty,  divine 
Far  above  I  saw  a  King,  whose  glory  crown 'd  him  like 

the  sun. 
While,  more  fair  than  stars,  his  people  circled  round 

the  royal  one. 
Where  they  moved,  as  he  directed,  came  no  hint  of 
hindrancy. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  213 

Every  pathway  opening  outward  led  along  unendingly. 
There  anon,  full  plenty  waited,  wells  of  joy  that  might 

be  quaff 'd, 
While  their  depths  with  scarce  a  ripple,  clos'd  above 

each  long  deep  draft. 
And  the  people  in  the  shadow  far  below  that  realm 

of  light, 
Crush'd  by  burdens,  lying  prostrate, — this  was  what 

had  lured  their  sight; 
This  was  what,  from  every  lip,  had  roused  the  cry  for 

"  Liberty, "_ 
Right  in   deeming  its  possession  would    fulfil    their 

destiny.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xii. 

LIE  {see  truth) 

Every  well  compounded  lie 
Mixes  truth  to  please  the  truthful  with  the  false  to 
poison  by.  Idem,  ix. 

LIFE 

Life  is  a  mystery,  mystery  bound. 

Above  or  about  us  no  rest  is  found. 

Our  past  is  a  dream  of  the  soul's  dim  home; 

Our  future  a  scheme  for  the  mist  and  the  foam. 

The  winds  drive  us  on;  we  shudder  but  steer; 

We  tack  for  safety,  we  drift  in  fear; 

We  cry  for  help  and  a  helper,  but  none 

Will  answer  our  cry;  we  struggle  alone. 

If  our  landing,  indeed,  were  near  some  light 

To  signal  the  harbor  were  now  in  sight. 

Be  alert,  my  soul,  nor  ever  a  ray 

Let  gleam  unused  when  the  gloom  gives  way. 

No  doubt  or  danger  can  ever  dispense 

With  a  sigh  or  a  sign  for  spirit  or  sense. 

Love  and  Life,  I. 

Life  is  a  mystery,  mystery-bound. 
Above  or  about  us  no  rest  is  found; 
But,  center'd  in  every  cycling  change. 
If  one  hope  draw  us,  wherever  we  range, 
Then  must  it  be  that  the  soul  inclined 
To  merely  an  earthly  love  must  find 

With  each  new  light 

That  cheers  the  sight 


214  A  POET'S  CABINET 

The  shaft  of  a  corridor  stretched  afar 
To  where  the  glories  of  all  love  are, — 
A  shaft  to  whiten  and  brighten  the  way 
To  a  hall  and  home  where  ends  the  day, 
And  heaven  and  earth,  life's  groom  and  bride, 
Shall  gather  their  children,  trained  and  tried, 

And  those  that  have  learned 

What  faith  has  earned. 
Shall  sleep  the  sleep  of  all  the  blest 
And  dream  the  dreams  of  an  endless  rest. 

Idem,  Lx. 

LIFE   BEYOND  THIS  LIFE   {see  HEAVENLY  and   SPIRIT) 

Oh,  if  there  be  laws  that  faith  can  trust, 
High  laws  that  righten  all  things  unjust, 
What  spheres  for  dreaming  and  doing  must  lie 
In  airs  not  domed  by  a  mortal  sky! 
What  fulness  of  living  must  life  contain 
Where  losing  one's  life  on  earth  seems  gain ! 

Idem,  VIII. 

LIFE,  HUMAN 

You  know 
What  human  life  is? — all  a  fight  of  soul 
To  keep  the  body  sweet, — a  fight  a  bird 
Or  beast  knows  nothing  of.     A  babe  when  bom 
Is  dipped  in  water;  every  following  day 
Is  dipped  again.    If  not,  ere  long  will  come 
Disease  and  death,  and,  when  a  mortal  dies, 
/  His  fellows  all  thank  heaven  that  they  have  hands 
To  keep  the  fight  up  for  him;  for,  if  not. 
Be  he  not  burned  or  buried  in  a  jiffy. 
The  air  of  heaven  may  find  the  spirit  sweet, 
But  not  the  air  of  earth — pugh ! — well  he  left  it ! 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

LIFE,  OF  THE  SPIRIT   (see  SPIRIT) 

Life's  greatest  gain  is  life  itself; 

And  life,  though  lived  in  matter,  is  not  of  it; 

Not  of  the  object  that  our  aims  pursue, 

Not  of  the  body  that  pursues  it,  not 

Of  all  the  world  of  which  itself  and  us 

Are  parts.     Nay,  all  things  that  the  eye  can  see 

Are  but  vague  shadows  of  reaHty 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  215 

Cast  on  a  frail  environment  of  cloud, — 
But  illustrations  of  a  general  trend 
Which  only  has  enduring  entity, 
And  is,  and  was,  and  always  must  be,  spirit. 

Berlin  Mountain. 

LIGHT 

But  once  for  all 

Can  dawn  a  day  like  this. 
And  those  who  will  not  use  their  light 

Will  all  life's  glory  miss.        Ethan  Allen. 
Too  few  were  they  to  brave  a  fort 

Well  mann'd  at  every  gun; 
Yet  those  who  slight  the  light  of  stars 

But  seldom  see  their  sun.  Idem. 

LIGHT,  HUMAN  AND  DIVINE 

Let  no  one  take  the  lamps  men  hang  at  night 
For  stars  that  never  leave  the  upper  air; 
Or  think  a  dawn  worth  while  comes  anywhere 
Except  where  skies  and  sunlight  bring  the  sight. 

Sense  and  Soul. 
The  worth  of  a  diamond  is  measured  by  the  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  the  light  emitted  by  it.  The  worth 
of  an  object  of  perception  is  measured  by  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  "that  light  which  never  was  on  sea  or 
land," — in  other  words,  by  the  amount  and  character 
of  thought  and  emotion  which  it  awakens. 

Painting,  Sculp,  and  Arch,  as  Rep.  Arts,  xiii. 

LIGHT  OF  LIFE 

Like  lesser  lights  this  light  of  life  is  nigh 
To  see  by,  not  to  handle,  lest  we  die. 
And  while  it  makes  the  paths  before  us  bright 
'T  is  our  work  to  advance  from  sight  to  sight. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xxxviii. 

LIGHT,  THE,  OF  CHILDHOOD 

Were  we  to  lose  our  little  leaping  light,  with  burning 
cheeks  and  sparkling  eyes,  we  all  of  us  should  be  in 
darkness.  On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

LIGHTS 

Ah  me !  how  strange ! — 
How  the  lights  we  carry  with  us  make  the  scenes  about 
us  change !       A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxxix. 


2i6  A  POET'S  CABINET 

LIGIITNIXG 

Each  fearful  time  this  hd  of  heaven  is  lifted, 
The  rays  pour  in  and  focus  here  on  us. 
They  axle  here  the  foes*  near  wheeling  lines, 
Ay,  draw  them  like  a  whirlpool  to  its  vortex. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 
There  is  not  a  tree 
Or  leaf,  or  trunk,  but  what,  to  point  us  out, 
These  fiery  fingers  of  the  storm  would  dash 
Aside  to  ashes — fume — thin  air.  Idem. 

LIKE 

Men  judge  of  us  by  standards  in  themselves; 
And  so  like  us  when  they  see  us  like  them. 

Columbus,  II.,  I. 

LIMBS 

Note  you  his  graceful  limbs,  and  how 
He  poises  at  the  waist,  as  if  about 
To  leap  to  some  fair  realm  of  beauty  which 
His  flesh  enrobes  but  cannot  realize! 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

LIMITATIONS,  WOMEN's 

Women's  limitations — children's  too,  as  everybody 
knows,  and  men's  as  well — are  just  the  things  that 
make  them  most  attractive.  If  it  were  not  for  limits, 
there  could  be  no  outlines;  if  no  outlines,  then  no 
beauty,  in  fact  no  individuality  of  form  or  character. 
What  charms  in  each  comes  from  the  bounds  in  which 
kind  heaven  confines  it. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  I. 

....  But  mama  says  by  women's  limitations  men 
mean  our  weaknesses. 

....  What  then?  We  all  like  best  those  weak 
enough  to  let  us  help  them.  Idem. 

LIMITS  FOR  HUMAN  THOUGHT 

All  brains  with  limits  are  what  polyps  own. 

You  think? — Ours  too  fit  forms  whose  grasp  can  never 

Outreach  the  touch  of  short  tentacula. 

Dante,  11.  2. 

LIMITS  IN  EXPERIENCE 

You  think  that  one  small  man's  experience 
Embraces  in  its  clasp  the  whole  broad  earth? — 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  217 

Nay,  it  is  finite.     Every  path  has  limits. 

Climb  up  to  mountain-tops,  you  turn  away 

From  flower  and  verdure,  spring  and  warmth,  to  dwell 

With  rock  and  weariness  and  thirst  and  chill. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 
LINE,  army's  {see  snake) 
Then,  down  the  hunter's  trail,  our  line 

Wound  on  as  winds  a  snake. 
And,  late  at  night,  prepared  to  spring, 
Lay  coil'd  beside  the  lake.       Ethan  Allen. 

LINES  AND  OUTLINES 

You  have  your  pencil — still  can  draw 

....  Yet  not 

The  outlines  I  had  hoped.     There  looms  a  face 
With  more  care-lines  upon  its  wrinkled  brow 

Than  e'er  I  blacked  a  map  with 

Columbus,  1.,  2. 
LIPS  (see  kiss) 
And  if  but  once,  as  I  grew  more  bold, 
Her  lips  in  the  bowl  of  their  beauty  should  mould 
A  word  of  love,  or  should  seal  my  bliss 
On  lips  that  were  burning  to  feel  her  kiss, 
My  spirit,  I  think,  would  bound  so  high, 
'T  would  be  translated  nor  need  to  die. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xiii. 
And  full  red  lips,  through  which  flow'd  soft  and  low 
Words  richly  color'd  by  the  warmth  within. 
As  was  the  face  that  flush'd  in  uttering  them. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  v. 
And  from  his  lips  that  have  not  lost  the  tint 
Of  daybreak  yet,  there  breathe  forth  sweeter  sighs 
Than  morning  air  brings  when  it  drinks  the  dew — 
Ay,  ay,  than  morning  air  brings  when  it  rings 
With  all  the  choruses  of  all  the  birds. 

The  Aztec  God,  in. 
A  tale,  strain'd  sweeter  through  those  lips  aglow 
Than  sunset  music.  Ideals  Made  Real,  ix. 

LITERATURE  AND  LEISURE 

....  What  literary  men  need  most  is  leisure;  and 
what  brings  leisure  in  the  world  is  wealth.  Had  I  the 
wealth  for  it,  I  should  endow,  not  colleges,  but  rather 


2i8  A  POETS  CABINET 

college  men,  and  hope  that,  when  relieved  from  outside 
pressure,  their  inward  promptings  would  reveal  them- 
selves. 

....  Why  so? 

....  Because  these  promptings  are  the  sources  in 
souls  of  almost  everything  on  earth  that  changes  what 
is  base  because  of  soil,  to  what  is  beautiful  because  of 
spirit.  The  Two  Paths,  I. 

LITERATURE  AND  SOCIETY 

One  has  to  build  up  brain  work  on  body  work.  To 
give  the  head  heat,  you  must  make  the  heart  beat.  To 
become  a  social  force,  our  literary  outlet  must  connect 
with  a  social  inlet.  What  Money  Can't  Buy,  iii. 

LITERATURE  VS.  ORATORY 

Nor  would  I  bide  content  with  utter'd  words. 
Too  often,  these,  when  widest  welcomed,  wake 
But  echoes  brief  as  breath  from  which  they  spring. 
I  craved  the  mission  less  of  roaring  waves 
Than  of  the  rare  wrought  shells  that,  evermore, 
When  storms  are  gone,  suggest  their  living  presence. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxv. 

LITTLE  STEPS  TOWARD  WRONG 

....  That  last  was  but  an  accident. 

....  It  always  is.  Yet  paths  that  lead  to  it  are 
very  slippery ;  and  those  that  enter  them  must  risk  the 
ending.  The  little  first  step  in  the  path  of  wrong  is  like 
the  little  first  step  of  the  fox  that  springs  the  trap  that 
catches  him.  So  little,  you  wouldn't  think  it  could  be 
fatal,  no!  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

LITTLE    THINGS,    SOURCES    OF    TROUBLE 

Usually  little  things  bring  the  most  unexpected 
trouble.  There  is  nothing  except  air  inside  a  rubber 
ball.  But  if  you  play  with  it  too  recklessly,  it  is  more 
apt  than  anything  of  which  I  know  to  bound  back  and 
hit  yourself.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

LITTLEST  (see  ridicule) 
The  littlest  diamond  in  this  ring  I  wear 
Is  better  for  my  humble,  human  use, 
Than  a  whole  world  of  dust  whirled  in  a  star 
Set  in  an  orbit  out  beyond  my  reach. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  219 

LIVELY  AND  RISKY  VS.  SAFE  AND  PLEASANT 

....  Old  friends  are  like  old  horses.  When  too 
old,  are  never  very  lively. 

....  When  too  lively,  are  never  very  safe. 

....  Without  its  risks,  the  game  of  life  would  not 
be  so  exciting. 

....  Without  exciting,  it  might  be  more  pleasant. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

LIVES 

All  lives  are  summers,  veiled  at  either  end 
In  shadows  of  the  spring  and  autumn  storms. 
We  pass  from  tears  of  birth  to  burial; 
And  in  the  brief,  bright  interval  between 
There  comes  anon  the  fevered  flush  of  life, 
Then  paleness,  then  the  fevered  flush  of  death. 
Men  leap  and  laugh,  and  then  lie  back  and  cough. 
Both  but  hysterical,  betwixt  the  two. 
Warring  for  power  that  more  of  war  must  keep. 
Pushing  for  place  that  prisons  those  who  seize  it, 
Kneeling  for  love  to  tramp  on  when  they  get  it, 
Their  little  rest  is  large-brought  weariness. 
And  what  they  wish  for  most  is  mainly  death. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 
Our  lives  are  vapors  forced  to  roam. 

Of  sun  and  storm  the  prey; 
But  cling  like  mists,  with  hills  their  home, 

Together  while  they  may. 
Our  lives  are  vapors,  whirled  through  skies, 

Where  some  by  storms  are  torn, 
And  some  the  sunlight  glorifies. 

And  some  to  heaven  are  borne. 
Our  lives  are  vapors  wrecked  and  lost. 

None  sail  their  journey  through. 
Ere  long  behind  some  blow  that  tost, 
■    Will  naught  be  left  but  blue. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  iv. 

LIVES,  ALIKE 

....  All  lives  are  much  alike. — 

....  How  so? — 

....  All  thorns  or  roses,  if  you  please, 
Grown  on  the  self -same  bush. 


220  A  POET'S  CABINET 

....  Do  all  lives  grow 

Both  thorns  and  roses? 

....  Yes,  we  show  the  thorns 

To  those  that  try  to  pluck  us  for  themselves; 
The  roses  to  the  ones  that  let  us  be. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

LOCKS,  WHITE 

Nor  did  white  locks  about  his  brow  attest 
How  rays  of  ghost-land's  lii?ht  had  touch'd  its  coming 
guest.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xi. 

LOGIC 

When  mortals  climb  a  path  to  truth  unseen, 
They  feel  their  way  along  the  links  of  logic. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 
And  this  man's  head  and  heart  were  so  united, 

His  thought  woke  passion,  and  his  passion  thought, 
His  logic  fired  his  fancy,  when  excited ; 

His  fancy  fann'd  the  forge  wherein  his  logic  wrought. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  viii. 
....  Logic  is  a  lance  that  never  hits  what  lies 
outside  its  range. 

....  And  is  never  used  by  a  wise  man  except  on 
what  gets  inside  his  range. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  i. 

LOGIC  AND  LIGHT 

Not  logic  leads  the  artist  on,  but  light. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxvii. 

LONELINESS 

And  there  strange  faces  drove  my  lonely  thoughts 
Back  into  memory  for  companionship; 
And  there  imagination  moved  anon 
To  fill  the  void  love  felt  in  earth  about. 
Invoking  fancies  where  it  found  no  facts. 
Beheld  an  earth  about  that  seemed  bewitch'd. 

Haydn,  vii. 

LONELINESS   OF   GREAT   LEADERS 

Whoever  would  seek  high  aims 
Must  oft  forego  all  lower  claims. 

Not  a  few  there  are 

Move  on  so  far 

That  never  a  man 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  221 

Helps  on  their  plan, 
Nor  a  confidant's  voice 
Confirms  their  choice. 
There  are  years  for  them,  when  the  loveliest  face 
Seems  only  a  framing  wherein  to  trace 
A  part  of  an  interest  felt  in  the  race. 
But  oh, 
Let  us  believe  they  grow, 
The  farther  that  thus  they  leave  behind 
The  common  paths  of  all  mankind. 
The  higher  the  sound  of  their  spirit's  call. 
If  the  less  to  one,  the  more  to  all. 

Love  and  Life,  XLViil. 
LONELY  {see  ALONE  and  companionship) 
All  woe  is  not  the  loud  complaint  that  pleads 
Where  startled  pity  weeps  in  sad  surprise; 
Nor  bliss  the  gorgeous  guise  that  decks  the  deeds 

That  win  wide  homage  from  admiring  eyes. 
Nay,  one  may  weep,  despite  men's  cheers  too  lonely, 

Because  his  inward  spirit  stays  unknown; 
And  smile  amid  dispraise  world-wide,  if  only 

One  other  soul  be  wending  heavenward  with  his 
own.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  Lxxviii. 

I  pass'd  a  grove  on  a  lowery  day; 

And  out  through  the  trees  there  rang 
The  deep  clear  note  of  a  low  sweet  lay 

Where  a  lonely  night-bird  sang. 
I  watch'd  a  cloud  that  floated  away; 

And  it  seem'd  as  if  bearing  along 
A  lark  whose  trills  were  filling  the  day 

With  an  endless  flood  of  song. 
Then  the  sun  burst  forth ;  and  the  night-bird  stopp'd 

And  flew  away  to  his  rest; 
And  the  lark  to  the  ground  in  silence  dropp'd 

Where  brightly  shone  his  nest. 
Ah,  better  I  thought  to  sing  in  the  gloom 

Than  never  be  stirr'd  by  the  worth 
Of  a  beauty  that  never  can  seem  to  bloom 

Save  over  a  darken'd  earth. 
And  better,  if  like  a  lark,  to  soar 
Than  sink  to  the  silent  ground, 


222  A  POET'S  CABINET 

And  tune  the  old  sweet  songs  no  more, 
Because  one's  mate  is  found. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxill. 

LORDS,  HUMAN 

No  wonder 
These  human  lords  combine 
The  masses'  rivalling  wealth  to  steal! 
Let  them  be  stript,  my  lord  may  feel 
His  decency  divine. 

Our  First  Break  with  the  British. 

LOSS  (see  AFFLICTION  and  bereavement) 
Did  not  I  know  that  loss  and  gain  are  both 
Sent  here  to  aid  the  worth  of  inner  traits 
And  change  the  phases  of  the  spirit's  growth? — 

Haydn,  xxix. 

LOSS   MADE   GAIN 

My  dear  one  has  driven  me  off;  but  I  know 

My  heart  is  hers,  and  its  love  will  show; 

And  to  find  a  way  for  this  will  give 

My  spirit  an  aim  for  which  to  live. 

My  lips  will  pour  into  every  ear 

The  thought  she  has  waked,  and  whoever  may  hear, 

While  hearing  an  echo  of  life  so  fair, 

Will  dream  and  live  in  a  fairer  air. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxiv. 

LOST,   PRIDE  IN  WHAT  IS 

How  much  some  people  do  pride  themselves  on 
what  they  have  lost!  Perhaps  they  think  it  a  reason 
why  others  should  help  them  to  get  it  back. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i. 

LOVE,  ALLOWING  IT  EXPRESSION 

No  life  could  so  be  cleansed, — b}^  wringing  thence 
The  blood  that  warms  the  heart ;  no  face  made  pure 
By  turning  pale  the  blush  of  beauty  cast 
By  shadows  where  sweet  love  goes  in  and  out. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LXIII. 

LOVE,    AND    FAITH    (see    FAITH) 

True  love  forever  fulfils  the  ideal 

Of  faith,  that  in  loving,  can  love  to  kneel. 

Love  and  Life,  xxxiv. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  223 

LOVE  AND  HEAVEN  {see  HEAVEN) 

If  heaven  indeed  have  naught  to  do 

With  love,  then  let  my  soul, 
Accepting  earth  as  its  master  too, 

Play  out  the  curse  of  its  r6le; 
Ay,  play  for  a  pawn  without  a  soul 

Instead  of  a  god-like  queen — 
For  the  grace  of  a  crafty  self-control, 

Or  a  face  like  a  painted  screen. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxi. 

LOVE  AND  SINGING 

There  let  sweet  love  a  pair  ensnare 
With  dainty  dreams  of  visions  fair, 
Wherein,  like  wings  athrob  the  air, 

Rare  wedding  bells  are  ringing. 
Then,  stirr'd  by  moods  that  move  the  heart, 
What  tunes  upon  the  lip  will  start, 
As  if  true  love  could  not  impart 

Such  sweets  except  through  singing! 

A  Song  on  Singing. 

LOVE,  AS  A  RULER   {see  SERVICE) 

If  ever  the  mind  to  faith  be  brought, 
Is  it  love  that  shall  rule  the  inward  thought? 
Is  it  love  that  shall  rule  the  outward  life 
And  crown  both  source  and  sum  of  strife? — 
Is  it  only  that  which  springs  from  the  heart 

That  can  ever  impart 
What  fills  the  veins  with  vigor  infused 
And  thrills  the  limbs  with  strength  to  be  used? 
Is  it  only  this  that  can  ever  fulfill 
The  way  of  the  world's  Creator's  will, 

And  thus  create 

That  heavenly  state 
For  which  men  work  the  while  they  wait? 

Love  and  Life,  lviii. 

LOVE    AS    THE    PRINCE    OF   ILL 

The  Prince  of  111 
Came  oft  robed  like  an  angel  of  the  light; — 
Why  not  like  love? —  Haydn,  xxx. 

LOVE  AS  THE  SOURCE  OF  LAW  {see  PRIEST) 

And  what  are  the  laws  for  word  or  deed 


224  A  POETS  CABINET 

Of  the  priest  whose  ministry  all  will  heed? 
Oh,  what  but  laws  of  that  in  the  soul 
Which  starts  the  life  that  the  laws  control? 
Ah  me,  if  to  love  we  owe  life's  giving. 
It  must  be  love  that  rules  right  living! 

Love  and  Life,  XLiii. 

LOVE,    DEAD    YET    ALIVE 

Love  at  times  may  prove  a  treasure  even  dead, 
If  dead  enough  in  spirits  yet  alive. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxv. 

LOVE   DECEIVED 

Should  some  red  thunderbolt  from  sunlight  burst 
And  burn  all  torturing  blindness  through  my  eyes, 
The  night  came  less  foretoken'd!     I,  who  dream'd 
That  here  I  gazed  on  truth,  here  bent  these  knees 
Upon  the  very  battlements  of  heaven, — 
I  to  be  tript  thus  from  my  dear  proud  trust, 
Sent  reeling  down  by  such  foul-aim'd  deceit! — 
Strange  is  it  if  my  jolted  brain  should  slip 
The  grooves  of  reason? — if  I  rave  or  curse? — 
You,  who  had  known  my  heart,  and  after  that, 
And  after  I  had  warn'd  you  of  the  thing, 
And  simulating  all  the  while  such  love, — 
You,  vowing  to  abjure  me!  more  than  this, 
To-day  with  such  cold-blooded,  soulless  tact, 
Soft-stealing,  through  the  door-ways  left  ajar, 
Within  the  inmost  chambers  of  my  heart. 
To  snare, — as  though  the  victim  of  a  cat 
That  could  be  play'd  with,  trick'd  with,  kill'd,  cast  off, — 
This  heart  of  mine  which,  as  you  might  have  known, 
Was  throbbing  but  to  serve  j^ou ! — Yes,  once  more. 
You  gain  your  end!     Once  more,  your  wish  is  mine. 
How  can  I  love? — God  help  me! — Go  you  free. 

Haydn,  lit. 

LOVE,  DREAMING  OF 

Where,  like  a  child  and  lover  both  united. 

He  dreamt  of  love,  yet  woke  and  thought  real  love 
the  best.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xix. 

LOVE,  DRIVEN 

Love,  if  driven,  is  only  driven  away. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 


Would  only  crave, 
\\  hen  we  have  so  much  else  in  sympathy, 
That  holy  state  where  two  souls'  else  at  one 
Would  both  be  God's. 


See  page  289. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  225 

LOVE,  EARTHLY 

If  in  the  spheres  of  life  on  high, 

The  fadeless  growth  of  each  bright  year 
Unfold  but  that  whose  germs  are  here, 

What  good  do  they  gain  on  earth  who  die, 
And  let  the  love  of  earth  go  by? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  ix. 

LOVE,  EARTHLY.  RENEWED  IN  HEAVEN 

Why,  when  you  speak,  your  voice  the  echo  seems, 
Of  some  familiar  strain,  with  which  all  sounds 
That  ever  I  thought  sweet  were  in  accord. 
And  when  my  dimmed  eyes  dare  to  face  your  own, 
Each  seems  a  sky  within  which  is  inframed 
A  world  that  holds  my  lifetime;  and  the  light 
Beams  like  a  sun  there,  scattering  doubt  and  gloom. 

Cecil  the  Seer ,  11.,  2. 

LOVE,    ENOUGH  FOR 

Enough  to  love, — 

....  What  holds  enough 

For  that? 

....  Enough, 

To  make  his  presence  here  a  boon  to  me; 

To  make  his  wishes  a  behest  for  me; 

To  make  me  feel  an  instinct  seeking  him. 

And,  finding  him,  a  consciousness  of  all. 

Hadyn,  xxi. 

LOVE,  ETERNAL  AND  INFINITE 

True  love  has  life  eternal,  infinite. 

Complete  within  itself,  and  craving  naught, 

It  needs  no  future  far,  nor  outlet  vast. 

Nor  aught  to  feel  or  touch  in  time  or  space. 

A  sense  within,  itself  its  own  reward, 

It  waits  not  on  return.    For  it,  to  love 

Is  better  than  to  be  loved,  better  far 

To  be  a  God  than  man.  Haydn,  xiil. 

LOVE,  ETERNITY  OF 

Love  is  of  eternity,  and  knows 
No  youth,  no  age; — is  like  the  air  of  heaven 
That  tosses  in  its  play  the  dangling  fringe 
Athrill  with  grace  about  our  outward  guise, 
And  runs  its  unseen  fingers  through  otu*  hair, 

IS 


226  A  POETS  CABINET 

And  brushes  to  a  glow  our  flushing  cheeks, 

But  has  more  serious  lasting  moods  than  these. 

It  is  the  substance  of  the  breath  we  breathe 

That  keeps  the  blood  fresh,  and  the  heart  in  motion; 

And,  e'en  when  these  give  out,  it  still  is  there 

To  buoy  us  up  and  bear  on  high  the  spirit. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ill.,  I. 

LOVE,  EVIDENCES  OF 

Now  say  you  never  saw  the  sea,  for  waves; 
Or  stars,  for  twinkling;  or  the  trees,  for  leaves; 
But  tell  me  not,  you  never  saw  the  heart 
That  bosom  heaves;  nor  ever  saw  the  play 
Of  faith  and  freak  within  that  twinkling  eye; 
Nor  ever  saw  the  spirit  when  the  smile 
That  breaks  in  laughter  shakes  the  form  aside. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lv. 

LOVE,  EXCLUDING   SYMPATHY  WITH   ONE's  AIMS 

Our  youth  knew  love  was  no  love,  that  loved  not 
What  made  his  life  worth  living. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lxvi. 

LOVE,  EXPRESSED  {see  WINNING  LOVE) 

Again  my  arms  were  round  that  neck; 
And  cheek  to  cheek  without  a  check 
Our  souls  had  met.     O  Love,  long  cold, 
What  frame  could  hope  to  feel,  when  old 
And  numb  from  long  bound  loads  of  pain. 
Such  warmth  and  life  thrill  every  vein ! 

My  Dream  at  Cordova. 

LOVE,  FIRST 

There  dawns,  transfiguring  earth  and  skies, 
A  day  in  the  light  of  which  faith  may  be  sure 
What  power  makes  all  life  be  and  endure. 

It  comes,  when,  filling  with  hope,  we  rise 
Redeemed  in  soul  by  the  Spirit  of  Truth ; 

And  it  comes  with  assent  that  glorifies 
A  soul  that  has  won  the  love  of  its  youth. 
Ah,  never  the  trills 

Of  the  birds  were  half  so  thrillingly  sweet ; 
Nor  ever  the  rills 

Rolled  on  so  clear  at  the  feet. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  227 

The  leaves  are  all  flowers, 

And  crystal  all  showers. 
Through  the  clouds  the  green  hills  loom,  as  grand 
As  the  nearing  shores  of  a  spirit-land; 
And  the  lights  of  the  stars  gleam  down  thro'  a  soul 
That  heaves  like  a  wave  of  the  infinite  whole. 
We  float  and  fuse  in  the  fragrant  air; 
We  fade  from  ourselves;  we  die  to  all  care. 
Ay,  she  that  is  ours  in  that  moment  of  bliss 
Brings  all  immortality,  worth  not  this. 
Nay,  nay,  we  have  gain'd  the  life  above. 
Who  dares  to  deny  it  to  our  first  love? 

Love  and  Life,  xxi. 

Nothing  in  the  world  is  so  beautiful,  so  blissful, 
so  life-inspiring,  as  is  love  when  it  first  opens  in  the 
heart;  but,  ah,  when  it  appears,  it  must  be  plucked  by 
him  for  whom  it  ripens.  If  not,  why,  then,  in  a  little 
time  it  turns  to  rot — and  oh,  the  loathsomeness  of 
that  which  might  have  been  so  sweet  if  taken  in  its 
prime!  Where  Society  Leads,  iii. 

LOVE  IN  THE  YOUNG 

I  mused  of  other  days ; 
How  once,  and  at  the  merest  hint  of  love. 
My  younger  blood,  like  some  just  conquering  host 
That  trembling  hope  bears  on,  would  bound  through 

veins 
That  thrill'd  and  thrill'd  while  shook  each  trodden 

pulse ; 
How,  hot  as  deserts  parch'd  by  swift  simoons, 
And  wild  as  forests  fell'd  by  sudden  blasts, 
My  frame  would  glow  and  bend  at  every  breath 
That  tidings  bore  me  of  the  soul  I  loved. 
How  then  had  love  been  tamed ! 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lix. 

Then,  with  nobler  cause, 
More  nobly  moved,  I  mourn'd  that  older  love. 
It  aye  had  come  from  regions  far  and  pure. 
From  sacred  heights  of  dream-land  and  desire, 
And  trailing  light  like  Moses  from  the  mount. 
With  one  hand  clasping  mine,  one  pointing  up 
To  something  earthly,  yet  more  near  the  sky. 


228  A  POET'S  CABINET 

It  aye  had  thrill'd  the  throbbing  veins  it  near'd 
And  made  my  brow  flush  proudly  as  the  boor's 
When  king's  hands  knight  him,  and  he  bears  away 
Ennobled  blood  forever. — My  mood  though — 
This  lax-limb'd,  loitering,  sisterly  regard, 
So  cold,  so  calm,  so  cautious, — what  was  this? — 
To  call  it  love  my  spirit  could  have  swoon'd, 
Shrunk  like  some  parent's  when  he  first  has  found 
His  fair  babe's  brain  to  be  a  gibbering  blank. 

Idem. 

LOVE,   IRRADICABLE 

She  thinks  my  nature  water.     I  did  once ; 
As  each  new  face  looked  love  upon  its  depths, 
I  thought  they  might  be  filled  with  that;  but,  ah, 
My  heart  is  like  a  photographer's  glass 
Whereon  the  image  once  impressed  remains; 
And  Cclia's  face  is  alwa3's  framed  in  Faith's. 
I  fear  I  love  the  picture  for  the  frame. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 

LOVE,  ITS  DOUBLE  SOURCE 

Love  is  the  flame  of  a  fire  divine 
Lit  and  fanned  on  an  earthly  shrine. 
Heaven  and  earth  both  claim  it  their  own. 
Why  should  either  let  it  alone? 
Why  should  the  earth  not  strive  to  show 
That  all  of  its  traits  belong  below? 
Why  should  the  heaven  be  loathe  to  try 
To  prove  that  they  all  belong  on  high? 
For  the  most  of  us  men,  betwixt  the  two, 
The  only  things  that  are  left  to  do 
Are  to  grieve  that  the  one  has  lowered  our  love, 
Or  to  mourn  that  the  other  has  borne  it  above. 

Life  and  Love,  xxv. 

This  love,  in  morals  based  on  faith  in  man, 

And  in  religion  on  our  faith  in  God, 

Seems,  in  its  essence,  an  experience 

Not  wholly  feeling,  yet  not  wholly  thought, — 

Not  all  of  body,  yet  not  all  of  soul, 

Of  what  we  are  or  what  we  are  to  be, — 

But  more  akin  to  marriage,  within  self. 

Of  our  two  separate  natures,  form  and  spirit. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  229 

God  meant  them  to  be  join'd:  when  wedded  thus, 
One  rests  content,  the  other  waits  in  hope. 

Haydn,  xlix. 

LOVE,  ITS  ULTIMATE  CONSUMATION 

When  souls  touch  souls,  they  touch  the  springs  of  life; 

For  them  the  veils  of  sense  are  drawn  aside, 

Are  burn'd  away  in  radiance  divine. 

The  while  their  spirit's  contact  starts  afresh 

The  electric  flash  that  scores  new  glory  here, 

And  lights  the  lines  of  being  back  to  God. 

Then,  with  their  whole  existences  renew'd. 

Far  up  these  lines,  the  souls  that  thus  commune, 

Discern  anon  that  sacred  home  on  high. 

Where  boundless  rest  is  blest  by  boundless  love 

And  dreams  the  dreams  of  bounty  absolute. — 

They  find  that  home,  whence  issue  floods  of  light 

Which,  flowing  forth  from  white  mysterious  heights, 

Flame  down  and  flash  and  burst  anon  in  sparks 

That  star  the  dark  through  all  life's  firmament; — 

They  find  that  home,  whence  whirl  the  cycles  wide 

Where  all  the  wastes  of  nature  fuse  and  form, 

And  all  the  things  that  thought  can  touch  take  shape, 

Until  the  restless  wheels  of  matter,  roll'd 

Through  roadways  worn  to  waste  by  speeding  years, 

At  last  in  fatal  friction  fire  themselves. 

And  light  returns  to  light  from  whence  it  sprang. 

Through    all,    where    souls    commune   with    central 

love. 
They  stay  secure,  awaiting  birth  or  death; 
The  Spring  that  starts  the  blossom  blown  to  fall. 
Or  Fall  that  drops  the  seed  that  springs  afresh. 
They  watch  nor  fear  whatever  change  evolve, — 
The  splendor  grand  of  epochs  borne  to  waste. 
The  ruin  wild  of  times  that  end  in  law. 
The  monarch  mail'd  whose  lustre  dims  his  folk. 
The  people's  guns  whose  echoes  hush  their  king. 
What  though  dark  clouds  loom  up  and  storms  descend? 
True  faith  would  not  bemoan  the  forms  they  wreck; 
For  forms  if  true  are  formulas  of  love 
That  still  is  ardent  to  consume  them  all. 
Though  lightnings  thunder  till  they  crack  the  sky. 
What  unroofs  rage  leaves  heaven  to  dome  our  peace. 


230  A  POET'S  CABINET 

The  more  convulsion  shakes  and  fire  consumes, 
The  more  of  love  and  light  may  both  set  free ; 
The  earlier  may  they  end  these  earthly  days 
That  fret  our  lives  with  flickerings  vague  below 
Of  steadfast  light  in  endless  day  above; 
The  earlier  may  the  power  of  hate  give  way, 
And  good  awake,  and  every  path  be  bright, 
While  hope  of  glory  gilds  the  gloom  on  high. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LXXIV, 

LOVE,  LOST 

....  All  any  life  is  worth 

Lies  in  its  possibilities  of  love. 
....  But  were  love's  object  lost? — 
....  One  cannot  lose 

What  is  eternal.    Hearts  must  always  keep, 
If  not  their  love,  what  love  has  made  of  them. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

LOVE,  MANLY 

My  soul  was  immature 
Romantic,  young.     It  must  be  manly  now. 
A  man  has  breadth.    I  take  it  manly  love 
Is  love  that  yields  most  blessing  to  the  most. 

Haydn,  liv. 

LOVE,  man's  right  TO 

My  heaven  holds  love. 
And  what  thrives  there  thrives  here,  and  has  a  right 
To  all  things  men  can  rightly  let  it  have. 

The  Aztec  God,  IL 

LOVE  OF  WOMEN  AND  OF  MEN 

Do  you  know, 
You  women  always  will  match  thoughts  to  things? 
You   chat   as  birds  chirp,   when   their   mates   grow 

bright : 
You  love  when  comes  a  look  that  smiles  on  you. 
We  men  are  more  creative.     We  love  love, 
Our  own  ideal  long  before  aught  real: 
Our  halo  of  young  fancy  circles  naught 
Save  empty  sky  far  off. — And  yet  those  rays 
Fit  like  a  crown,  at  last,  above  the  face 
That  fortune  drives  between  our  goal  and  us. 

HaydUt  xvi. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  231 

LOVE,  REFINING  INFLUENCE  OF 

Love,  rarest  of  passions,  with  burnings  untold, 
Refines  all  the  being  to  turn  out  its  gold. 
One  sound  of  their  kindling,  wrong  hears  as  a  knell, 
And  sinks  from  that  heaven  as  far  as  to  hell 

Love  and  Life,  xxvii. 

LOVE,   RENUNCIATION  OF 

Not  God, — the  devil — he,  he  rules  the  world! — 

Then  let  me  rule  it  with  him. — But  no,  no! — 

Oh,  what  a  universe  of  agencies 

Are  centered  in  one  life  that  may  be  both 

The  God  and  devil  of  the  soul  it  loves ! 

Yet  wits  were  given  one  to  outwit  the  world. 

If  Celia  be  what  I  have  dreamed  she  is, 

The  world  must  work  its  work  upon  her  will 

Without  one  touch  of  mine,  or  hint,  or  sigh. 

To  make  her  life  more  tempted  or  less  true. — 

Oh,  cursed  world,  in  which  forswearing  love 

Is  our  best  proof  that  we  would  foster  it ! 

But  wait! — What  moves  me? — Am  I  but  a  fool 

Controlled  by  dreams? — No,  no;  I  had  a  dream; 

But  this,  at  least,  is  none, — that  each  who  aids 

An  angel  upward  for  himself  prepares 

Angelic  friendship;  and  if  there  be  spheres 

Where  spirit  can  reveal  itself  to  spirit. 

And  sympathy  be  sovereign,  there  must  be 

One  soul  supremely  loved.    I  dreamed  no  dream. 

High,  knightly  chivalry  whose  love  protects, 

Thy  knightly  honor  is  the  sacred  thing 

Of  which  thy  pride  is  conscious.     But — oh  God! — 

To  be  just  on  the  threshold  of  all  bliss : 

And  fail. — Fail? — No.     Let  Freeman  have  her  now 

A  few  brief  years. — I  dream  with  her  forever. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  in.,  i. 

LOVE,  REPRESENTATIVE 

Yet  wheresoever  love  is  roused  in  me. 
Each  form  I  love  shall  seem  a  part  of  thee. 

No  more  can  man  or  matron,  maid  or  boy 
With  coming  charms  excite  my  spirit's  joy^ 
But  these  must  find  in  thy  fair  form  their  birth, 
But  these  must  gain  from  thy  dear  life  their  worth. 


232  A  POET'S  CABINET  ' 

The  light  of  heaven  has  burn'd  thine  image  where 
My  soul  must  evermore  its  impress  bear. 
Naught  now  can  come  to  bless  my  spirit's  view, 
But,  where  it  comes,  thy  smiling  form  stands  too. 

Nay  more,  my  true  one,  thy  soul's  flowing  love 
Holds  in  its  depths  the  imaged  heavens  above ; 
And  when  't  is  quaffed,  and  floods  my  being's  brim, 
The  draft  fits  God.     I  feel  akin  to  Him. 

A  Life  in  So7ig:  Loving,  lii. 

LOVE,  RIPE 

Right  love  is  ripe  love.     Life  must  be  exposed 
In  sun  and  storm — to  frost  and  bruising  too: 
The  fruit  grows  mellow  by  and  by  alone. 

Haydn,  xix. 

LOVE,   SACREDNESS  OF 

The  spirit  of  love  is  far  too  rare 
For  ever  deceit  or  doubt  to  dare, — 
A  hallow'd  spirit  whom  awed  delight 
Must  ever  worship  in  robes  of  white. 
Too  oft  by  a  touch  that  never  was  meant 
The  veil  of  its  holy  of  holies  is  rent ; 
Too  oft  from  a  heedless  impious  tone 

Love's  glory  has  flown. 
The  souls  that  together  lived  in  light, 
They  weep  apart  through  the  long,  long  night. 

Love  and  Life,  xxiii. 

LOVE,  SECRETIVENESS  OF 

The  friends  that  in  closeted  hours  confess 
The  faith  so  dear 

That  both  possess. 
When  others  are  near, 
Abide  contented  not  to  reveal, 
But  merely  to  feel, 
In  walking 
Or  talking, 
That  some  one  is  nigh 
With  a  kindling  eye; 
And  some  one  exults  at  their  well  earned  pride. 
To  tattle  of  love  were  suicide. 

No  trumpet  or  drumming 
Proclaims  the  coming 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  233 

Of  God  on  high  to  a  spirit  on  earth. 

Then  wherefore  of  love,  if  it  have  any  worth? 

Love  and  Life,  xiv. 
LOVE,  SPIRITUAL  {see  faith) 
*T  is  time  the  Spirit  of  the  living  force, 
Whose  currents  through  the  frame  of  nature  course, 
And  make  the  earth  about,  and  stars  above. 
The  body  and  abode  of  infinite  Love, 
That  breathes  its  own  breath  through  our  waiting 

frames 
With  each  fresh  breeze  that  blows,  and  ever  aims 
Our  lesser  lives  where  all  we  call  advance 
But  plays  within  its  lap  of  circumstance, — 
'T  is  time  this  Spirit  should  be  known,  in  truth, 
Inspiring  hope  in  age  and  faith  in  youth, 
And  in  us  all  that  charity  benign, 
'Which  in  us  all  would  make  us  all  divine. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  LV. 

One  talent  of  which  love  has  full  direction 

Finds  heaven,  while  hate-led  genius  yet  gropes  near 
to  hell.  Idem,  Serving,  xx. 

LOVE,  THE,  OF  A  SWEETHEART 

You  ask  me  why  I  love  my  love. 

Ah,  think  not  love  needs  proving. 
She  sways  me  like  the  breeze  above 

That  keeps  the  tree-top  moving. 

In  her  fair  face  I  find  a  bloom 

Life  could  not  own  without  it, 
Which,  like  a  rose  that  sheds  perfume, 

Makes  all  earth  sweet  about  it. 

In  her  deep  eyes  I  see  a  light 

That  turns  her  slightest  glances 
To  beams  that  guide,  like  stars  at  night, 

My  life's  dark  fears  and  fancies. 

Through  her  dear  voice  there  sounds  a  charm 

Past  music's  in  attraction, 
That  bids  all  forms  of  ill  disarm, 

And  nerves  to  noblest  action. 

She  is  of  all  life's  hues  the  sun; 
Nor  whiter  could  a  dove's  be 


234  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Than  hers  to  me,  for  all  seem  one, 
Because  all  mean  she  loves  me. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  LI. 

LOVE,  THE,  OF  ONE  SWEETHEART  {see  POLYGAMY) 

Is  his  experience  then 
So  strangely  brilliant  who  is  loved,  forsooth. 
By  one  maid  only? 

....  It  may  not  be  brilliant. 

But  like  a  star  in  heaven  it  fills  with  light 
One  point — that  where  the  gods  have  placed  it. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

LOVE,  THE  SERVICE  OF  {sce  TRUTH) 

How  oft  I  thank'd  the  Power  that  gave  me  power 

To  think  and  do  for  him  what  he  could  not. 

I  knelt :  I  gave  my  body  to  his  needs : 

Brain,  hands,  and  all  things  would  I  yield  to  him. 

And  was  I  not  paid  back? — His  dear,  sweet  heart, 

Each  slightest  beat  of  it,  would  seem  to  thrill 

Through  all  my  veins,  twice  dear  when  serving  two. 

And  this  was  love!     You  know  the  Master's  words. 

That  they  alone  who  lose  it  find  their  life. 

'T  is  true.     No  soul  can  feel  full  consciousness 

Of  full  existence  till  it  really  love. 

And  jdeld  its  own  to  serve  another's  life. 

"To    serve    Christ's    life,"   you   say? — But   part   of 

that 
By  Christ's  humaneness  is  to  serve  mankind. 
I  speak  a  law  of  life,  a  truth  of  God: 
To  heaven  I  dare  as  little  limit  it 
As  to  the  earth ;  whatever  be  our  sphere, 
We  know  not  life  therein  until  we  love. 

Haydn,  xn. 

LOVE,   THE  TEST  OF 

It  seems  to  me 
That  love,  like  light,  is  tested  by  its  rays. 
The  halo  crowns  the  saints,  our  lights  of  life, 
Just  as  the  love  they  shed  surrounds  their  souls. 
Where  one  is  God's,  the  strong  soul  serves  the  weak; 
The  mother  jdelds  her  powers  to  bless  her  babes; 
The  man  his  powers,  for  her;  and  Christ  for  all. 

Haydn,  xxiii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  235 

LOVE  VS.  FRIENDSHIP 

Love  reinforces  our  own  best  desires,  but  friendship 
often  merely  leaves  us  free  to  work  out  for  ourselves 
our  own  salvation.  The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

LOVE,    WHEN    A   CURSE 

Accursed  love,  that  makes  the  brightest  eye 

A  sunglass  through  which  heaven  would  wilt  the  soul, 

And  by  the  very  pleasure  beauty  gives 

Mete  out  the  measure  of  impending  doom. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 

LOVER-FRIEND 

A  sorry  end 

Has  the  lover-friend. 
A  place  akin  to  a  dog's  has  he, 
Who,  whenever  her  form  may  be  spied, 
Deems  nothing  so  meet  for  him,  or  sweet, 
As  to  snuff  the  halo  of  dust  at  her  feet. 
And  to  crouch  and  bound  and  bark  at  her  side, 
And,  trembling  to  feel  the  tap  of  her  hand, 

Be  weary  never 
Of  springing  to  fetch  and  carry  whatever 
Her  face  and  her  voice  demand. 
Full  many  a  man  has  found  to  his  cost 
A  master  made  of  the  maid  he  had  lost. 
Her  lover  turn'd  friend  is  one  to  abuse 

And  cushion  her  sense  of  sovereignty, 
A  man  to  attend  her,  and  flirt  with,  and  use 
To  waken  another  to  jealousy. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxvi. 

LOVER  vs.  HUSBAND 

Am  I,  think  you,  a  mian  to  play 
A  second  fiddle  to  your  tune  of  love — 
With  instrument  all  broke  beyond  repair. 
Make  discord  of  the  music  of  your  life? 
I  promise  you  to  leave  here. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  in.,  2. 

LOVER,   WHEN   COMES  HIS   SWEETHEART 

All  of  nature  with  rhythmic  beat 

Seem'd  at  one  with  her  swaying, 
Keeping  time  to  her  fair  young  feet. 
The  beat  of  her  heart  obeying. 


236  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Ah,  thought  I,  since  the  world  was  new, 
All  its  whirling  and  humming, 

All  its  working,  and  waiting  too, 
Meant  that  she  was  coming. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving^  ii. 

LOVERS 

We  look'd  in  each  other's  eyes  to  see 

Our  dearer  selves  reveal'd; 
And  nothing  within  each  orb  saw  we 

Save  too  much  love  conceal' d. 

We  rested  back  in  each  other's  arms, 
And  we  heard  each  other's  hearts, 

With  music  far  sweeter  than  ever  the  charms 
That  ever  the  world  imparts. 

For  every  throb  in  the  blood  of  one 
Would  thrill  through  the  other's  veins, 

And  the  joy  of  one  dispel  like  a  sun 
The  night  of  the  other's  pains. 

Discordant  never  in  smiles  or  sighs, 

We  wonder'd  if  it  could  be — 
Oh  God,  to  think  we  were  then  so  wise! — 

That  others  could  love  as  we. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XIX. 

LOVERS,   A    maid's 

My  mind 
Had  stumbled  on  the  impression  that  a  maid 
Looks  on  her  lovers  as  a  Toltec  brave 
On  scalps:  she  likes  to  see  them  hanging  on 
Her  neck — at  least  in  presence  of  such  mates 
As  make  no  conquests.  The  Aztec  God,  in. 

LOYAL 

I  care  not  what  to  others 

A  loyal  feeling  brings; 
To  me  it  still  will  loyal  be 

To  serve  the  King  of  kings. 

The  Lebanon  Boys  in  Boston, 

LOYAL    SPIRITS 

Nay,  theirs  are  loyal  spirits. 

But  when  the  wrong  is  great. 
And  forms  of  law  do  not  deserve 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  237 

Their  soul's  allegiance,  then  they  serve 
The  spirit  of  the  state. 

Our  First  Break  with  the  British. 

LOYALTY  TO  PEOPLE  VS.  TO  RULER 

In  states  that  free  men  govern,  loyalty  may  prompt 
a  man,  at  times,  to  serve  the  people  and  not  the  per- 
sonality of  one  disloyal  to  the  people,  though  their 
ruler.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  in. 

LUST 

But  am  I  to  waive  a  life  of  truth 

For  a  lower  wish  that  craves 
The  swine-flung  husks  that  the  world,  forsooth, 

Slings  those  it  has  turn'd  into  slaves? 
Am  I  to  yield  the  spirit's  claim 

And  grip  what  has  come  to  thrust 
The  empty  hide  of  a  soulless  frame 
At  clutches  of  greed  and  lust? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxi. 
And  if  no  love  their  lust  control 

Whom  the  rites  of  earth  entice, 
Alas  for  churches  that  prostitute  soul, 
And  states  that  establish  vice!  Idem. 

LUST  vs.  LOVE 

I  turn  my  back  on  lust 

That  I  may  ttim  my  face  to  love. 

....  Poor  fool, 

But  one  life  can  you  live,  and  yet  you  lose  it ! 

....  But  one  love  can  I  keep,  and  I  shall  keep  it. 

The  Aztec  God,  in. 
What?    When  I  have  let 
Their  lustful  kisses  drain  the  dew  of  youth. 
Give  her  the  parched  and  lifeless  remnant? — No. 
Go  take  that  wolf-skin  from  the  snarling  hounds 
When  all  the  blood  has  been  sucked  out  of  it, 
And  flesh  gnawed  off,  and  fling  it,  cold  and  limp, 
Out  to  another  wolf  panting  for  a  mate; 
But  ask  me  not  to  fling  love's  foul  cold  carcass 
Out  to  her  arms  to  whom  I  owe  my  life. — 
Oh,  cursed  fate!  Idem, 

MAD 

Am  I  mad? — My  sole  proof  that  I  am  not. 


238  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Lies  in  my  thinking  that  I  may  be  so. — 
Humph!     I  will  hold  this  thinking  and  keep  sane; 
And  if  it  be  a  cool  head  takes  the  trick, 
Will  find  what  trick  is  here.    Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 
MADNESS  (see  insanity) 
How  near  proud  reason's  realm  may  be 
That  fierce  Charybdis-craving  sea, 
That  drags  toward  madness  you  and  me! 
We  wander  toward  its  misty  strand: 
There  swells  the  wave;  here  stops  the  land. 
How  bright  the  sea!  how  dull  the  sand! 
"Oh  Guardian  Sense,"  we  cry,  "away!" 
We  wade  the  surf;  we  feel  the  spray; 
We  leap! — and  God  prolongs  our  day. 
Ah,  Holy  Wisdom,  if  Thou  be 
The  Logos  from  the  Sacred  Three, 
Who  all  men's  good  and  ill  decree; 
And  if  the  wise  above  us  dwell, 
The  unwise  then — but  who  can  tell? — 
May  madness  be  the  mood  of  hell. 
Where  God,  who  nileth,  ruleth  well? 
If  it  be  true  that  death  translates 
To  other  spheres  the  self-same  traits 
Our  souls  acquire  in  earthly  states; 
If  it  be  true  that  after  death 
The  heat  of  some  accursed  breath 
Can  into  fever'd  action  fan 
All  lusts  that  once  inflamed  the  man, 
Till  life  grow  one  intense  desire, 
A  burning  in  a  quenchless  fire, 
A  worm  that  gnaws  and  cannot  die, 
Since  worldly  things  no  more  supply 
What  worldly  wishes  gratify, 
And  flesh  and  blood  no  more  remain 
To  make  a  fleshly  craving  sane; — 
If  then  the  passions,  anger'd  sore 
Because  indulged,  as  once,  no  more. 
Rise  up,  and  rave,  till  reason  swerve, 
And  lose  command  of  every  nerve, — 
What  state  can  anarchy  preserve? 
What  state? — O  Christ,  I  see  them  now — 
Those  teeth  that  gnash ! — and  see  why  thou. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  239 

To  save  our  souls  from  future  strife, 
Didst  cast  out  devils  in  this  life. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xiv. 

MAID,  A  MODEL 

Her  brilliance  would  not  dim  a  rival's  eyes, 
Nor  beauty  shade  another's  face  with  frowns. 
One  saw  in  her  a  modest,  model  maid, 
A  woman  loved  by  women ;  and  with  men 
A  presence,  mellow-lightinj^  like  the  moon. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  XLV. 

MAID,  AND  A  BOY 

....  They  were  here,  alone,  together,  and  in 
danger.     It  brought  him  very  near  to  her. 

....  And  when  a  boy  comes  near  a  maid  just  in 
her  blushing  bloom,  she's  like  a  ripe  red  peach  upon  a 
branch.    One  touch — she  tumbles.     Humph! 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

MAIDEN,  DECEASED 

A  maiden  of  such  beauty,  grace,  and  love. 

It  were  impossible  to  think  her  dead. 

And  not  be  drawn  toward  beauty,  grace,  and  love 

In  their  diviner  aspects.  Dante,  11.,  i. 

MAIDENS,  LOVE  FOR 

"But  maidens,"  cried  he,  "are  not  loved  like  men. 
Bind  beauty  to  their  souls,  then  weigh  the  twain. 
If  one  weigh  naught,  he  waives  his  judgment  then. 
We  must  be  practical. "       Ideals  Made  Real,  v. 

MAIDS 

Maids,  like  flowers, 

Are  sweetest,  pluck'd  when  in  the  bud? 

Haydn,  xix. 
Maids,  like  minnows,  rarely  show  themselves 
Till,  caught  and  drawn  from  out  the  open  sea, 
They  frisk  in  safety  in  some  household  pond! 
Ideals  Made  Real,  xxiv. 
The  two  then  moving  from  their  sister-maids. 
Like  petals  loos'd  from  roses  when  in  bloom. 
Came  forth  to  welcome  us.  Idem,  xv. 

MAIDS  WITH  INTELLECT 

Maids 
In  whose  one  person  love  so  womanly 


240  A  POETS  CABINET 

With  intellect  so  manly  has  been  join'd, 
Need  not  to  marry  for  a  hand  or  head. 
There,  hearts  alone  can  win.    Bear  this  in  mind ; 
And  fan  your  fancy  till  your  words  grow  warm, 
Ay,  glow  to  flash  the  white  heat  of  the  soul ! 

Idem,  XII. 

MAN 

A  man  alone? — And  yet  the  moods  of  man 

May  make  men  love  us  for  our  manliness, 

Who  draw  them,  Christ-like  through  our  sympathy, 

Toward  self, — God's  image  here,  and  thus  toward 

Him.  Idem,  liii. 

Let  ancient  lore  trace  man's  ancestral  story 

To  mystic  loins  of  superhuman  birth, 
The  grandest  good  in  which  our  times  would  glory 

Is  merely  to  inherit,  at  the  last,  an  earth, — 
An  earth  made  perfect,  where  converting  love 

Makes  each  man  share  his  heritage  with  each, 
And  prove  his  faith  in  heaven's  pure  life  above 

By  bringing  heaven  within  each  mortal's  reach. 
For  tho'  a  grander  hope  the  soul  confesses. 

So  long  as  human  nature  guides  its  aim. 
Who  learns  to  be  a  true  man  here,  possesses 

The  most  that  He  who  made  man  what  he  is  can 
claim.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxxi. 

MAN-FORCE  NOT  MERELY  BRUTE-FORCE 

....  When  it  comes  to  any  traits  of  body,  under 
them  one  usually  surmises  deeper  traits. 

....  And  so  you  see  in  men? — 

....  Not  brute  force  merely,  but  brain  force,  too. 

....  It  is  not  alwa3^s  shown. 

....  Not  always  found  by  those  whose  natures 
look  for  brute- force  only.  When  our  men  are  gentle — • 
say  like  my  self-controlled  and  thoughtful  brother — 
we  women  ought  to  thank  them,  and  not  act  like  curs 
who  never  hint  what  hints  of  courtesy  save  when  they 
cringe  to  lick  the  hand  of  cruelty. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  III. 

managing  OTHERS 

I  would  not  dare  to  mould  another  thus; 
Nay,  though  I  knew  that  I  could  model  thence 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  241 

The  best-form'd  manhood  of  my  best  ideal. 
Who  knows? — My  own  ideal,  my  wisest  aim, 
May  tempt  myself,  and  others,  too,  astray. 
If  I  be  made  one  soul  to  answer  for. 
And  make  myself  responsible  for  two, 
I  may  be  doubly  damn'd.     How  impious, — 
The  will  that  thus  would  manage  other  wills; 
As  though  we  men  were  puppets  of  a  show, 
Not  spirits,  restless  and  irresolute, 
Poised  on  a  point  between  the  right  and  wrong 
From  which  a  breath  may  launch  for  heaven  or  hell ! — 

Haydn,  xxvi. 

MANHOOD,  EQUALITY  OF 

Now  shall  all  men  trust  in  manhood,  knowing  all  must 

read  the  right 
By  the  aid  of  that  same  spirit  giving  every  soul  its 

light.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xviii. 

Now  shall  no  man  lord  another.     God  will  have  His 

own  sweet  way, 
His  own  Eden,  where  all  souls  may  work  their  work 

and  say  their  say.  Idem. 

Where,   O  where  shall  trust  in  truth    that  speaks 

through  manhood  great  and  small, 
Overcome  the  few's  oppression  by  intrusting  power  to 
all?  Idem,  xxi. 

manhood's  worth 

Service  done 
For  manhood  measures  manhood's  worth. 

Her  Haughtiness. 

MARRIAGE  {see  DIVORCE,  MATRIMONY  and  WEDDED) 

A  natural  state, 
Made  statelier  through  authority  of  law. 
That,  otherwise,  might  authorize  the  wrong. 

Haydn,  XL. 

MARRIAGE,  EFFECTS  OF  A  FOREIGN 

A  foreign  marriage  for  an  American  girl.  The  one 
thing  that  she  is  sure  to  do  is  to  break  off  with  the 
thought  to  which  she  has  been  trained  in  her  own  land 
too  late  to  form  connection  with  the  thought  to  which 
another  has  been  trained  in  another  land.  She  is  most 
16 


242  A  POET'S  CABINET 

likely  to  remain  through  life  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
country.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

MARRIAGE  FOR  LOVE 

....  Does  Winifred  love  him? 

....  How  can  I  tell?  How  can  she  tell? — No- 
body knows  how  a  suit  will  fit  till  it  has  been  tried  on. 
Even  then,  especially  if  young,  one  may  outgrow  it. 
Young  chickens  have  down ;  old  chickens  have  feathers. 
The  down  feels  smooth,  the  feathers  may  scratch. 
The  chicken  is  the  same,  only  it  has  become  an  old 
chicken. 

....  Men  have  in  them  what  chickens  have  not, — 
minds  and  souls. 

....  Have  they? 

....  Some  of  them  have,  and  know  it.  Others, 
who  overlook  the  fact,  discover  it  sometimes  when  it's 
too  late.  Idem,  ii. 

MARRIAGE   FOR    MONEY 

....  The  woman  might  have  money. 

....  And  I  might  marry  her  for  it,  eh?  Yes,  and 
I  might  murder  her  for  it;  and,  if  not  found  out,  or 
not  a  spiritualist,  have  a  much  more  pleasant  time 
in  the  future — be  rid  of  the  embarrassment  of  my 
victim's  companionship. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i. 

MARRIAGE  WITH  THE   UNSYMPATHETIC 

Cursed  fate! — 
This  trudging  on  and  on  in  paths  of  right. 
And  knowing  every  pace  takes  one  more  stride 
Away  from  all  one  loves! — From  all  one  loves? — 
No,  no ; — from  all  that,  once,  one  thought  he  loved. 
Oh,  cruel  customs  of  a  cruel  world, 
Which  damn  us  for  those  dreams  that  seem  to  be 
Our  holiest  inspirations!     Cruel  dreams. 
That  never  prove  delusions,  till  the  world 
Welds  bonds  for  us  that  death  alone  can  break! 
And  cruel  bonds  that  make  all  happiness. 
In  one  so  bound,  impossibility, 
Unless  he  live  a  sneak's  life.         Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

MARRIAGE  WITH  THE  VICIOUS 

Oh,  it's  not  my  fatdt  that  I  am  thinking  of,  not  my 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  243 

fault;  it's  my  foulness!  Why,  why,  if  I  sent  off  a  boy 
to  act  merely  as  a  valet  to  a  man  like  that,  it  would 
frighten  me  to  think  of  the  risk  involved  in  having 
him  come  back  into  my  house  again;  yet  I,  I, — think 
of  it! — I  have  been  that  creature's  wife!  Ugh,  the 
humiliation  of  it  all!  Where  Society  Leads,  ill. 

MARRIED  WOMEN,  AS  CONFIDANTES  OF  MEN 

Men  seldom  take  off  their  coats  and  sit  down  in  the 
sleeves  of  their  souls  with  a  woman,  unless  she  is 
married.    I  may  see  him  without  his  coating. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

MARTYR 

Surely,  surely,  truth  and  justice  rule  the  worlds;  and 

cares  and  pains 
Which  the  martyr  meekly  suffers  are  not  all  that  duty 

gains. 
Grand  desires  are  not  delusions,  though  one  die  before 

his  day. 
And  the  soul  that  plann'd  for  manhood  fall  a  child 

amid  his  play. 
Trembling  through  the  dying  whispers  of  the  men  who 

live  for  right 
Comes  a  call  to  nobler  living  than  the  sleep  of  endless 

night.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxviii. 

MASK,  A  SYMBOL  OF  THE  POET 

The  mask  is  a  fitting  symbol  for  the  poet,  not  only 
because  the  classic  actors  wore  one  in  presenting 
tragedies  and  comedies,  but  because  the  poet  himself 
appears  in  one  whenever  he  writes  objectively  or 
dramatically — indeed,  one  could  almost  say,  whenever 
he  writes  artistically.  Words  and  deeds  that  would 
provoke  disesteem  and  persecution,  if  employed  by  a 
philosopher  or  an  essayist,  can  be  made  to  fit  the 
characters  or  situations  represented  in  a  poem  or  a 
novel,  and  never  raise  a  protest. 

The  Representative  Significance  of  Form,  XI. 

masses'   PRAISE  OR  BLAME   {sec  APPLAUSE) 

What  care  I  for  the  masses*  praise  or  blame? 
But  larger  atoms  of  earth's  common  dust, 
If  whirled  against  one  or  away  from  one. 
They  cannot  fill  or  empty  thus  the  sphere 


244  ^  POET'S  CABINET 

Where  dwells  the  spirit.     Let  them  come  or  go. 
My  soul  desires  not  many  things  but  much — 
Ah  yes,  and  too  much,  too  much,  as  it  seems! 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

MATCH,  A  LOVE 

We  two  souls  were  fitted  so 
To  match  each  other.     Here,  where  jars  the  world, 
And  all  goes  contrary,  where  every  sun 
That  ripes  this,  withers  that;  and  ever}'-  storm 
That  brings  refreshment  here,  sends  deluge  there. 
We  two,  exceptions  to  the  general  rule. 
Like  living  miracles  (is  love  fulfill'd 
A  miracle  indeed?),  seem'd  born  to  draw 
The  self-same  tale  of  weal  or  woe  from  each. 
I  saw  but  last  night,  darling,  in  my  dreams. 
Our  spirits  journeying  through  this  under  gloom: 
And  hand  in  hand  they  walk'd;  and  over  them, 
As  over  limner'd  seraphs,  did  there  hang 
A  halo,  love  reflected.    By  its  glow 
The  gloom  about  grew  brightness :  while  far  off, 
In  clearest  lines,  the  path  passed  up  and  on. 

Haydn,  XLViii. 

MATCH,  TWO  BY  TWO 

We  too  should  walk  alone,  or  else  have  four, 
Or  six.     When  two  agree  they  make  a  match. 
A  third  is  but  a  wedge  with  which  to  split 
The  two  apart.  Haydn,  iv, 

MATE  (see  boy-friends) 
How  oft  with  an  old  but  strange  delight, 
I  awake  and  turn  when  the  day  grows  bright; 
But  O,  no  arm  o'er  my  neck  is  thrown. 
No  soft,  warm  breath  is  fanning  my  own. 
I  feel  but  a  draft  of  the  passing  air 
That  drifts  through  the  window  to  lift  my  hair. 

I  hear  but  the  breeze 
That  is  whispering  where 

It  plays  with  the  trees. 
The  mate  of  my  boyhood  in  days  long  past 
I  loved  with  a  love  that  could  not  last. 

He  has  left  me  for  life; 
And  far  away  with  children  and  wife, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  245 

He  shows  not,  knows  not,  would  not  crave 
The  old,  old  love  that  sleeps  in  its  grave. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  vil. 

MATED 

Souls  are  not  mated  when  two  forms  of  flesh 
Join  hands,  or  merely  share  each  other's  arms. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

MATERIAL   VS.    SPIRITUAL  AIMS 

How  vain  to  let  affections  all  go  forth 
To  things  materiaJ,  hard  and  heavy  foes, 
Whose  mission  is  to  fall  at  once  and  crush, 
Or,  through  long  labor,  wear  our  spirits  out! 
How  much  more  wise,  behind  the  shape,  to  seek 
The  substance,  and,  in  sympathy  with  it, 
Learn  of  the  life  that  never  was  created 
But  all  things  were  created  to  reveal! 

West  Mountain. 

MATRIMONY,  COMMITTING  IT 

In  certain  circumstances  matrimony  is  precisely 
like  murder.  Once  committed,  one's  committed  for 
life;  and  to  a  prison-life  at  that. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i. 

MEAN 

The  mean  are  mean  without  meaning. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  III. 

MEANING,  HIDDEN 

A  friend  can  heed  the  meaning  of  our  thought 
Unhelpt  by  word  or  gesture. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

MEANS  OF  GOOD  TO  OTHERS 

....  Oh,  no  man  in  the  world  can  fall  so  far — 
can  be  so  weak  or  poor — in  short,  so  mean — but  there 
are  some  of  us  can  make  of  him  a  means  of  good  to 
others. 

....  How? 

....  Why,  we  can  help  him  on — or  else  we  can 
suggest  that  he  help  us  on.         On  Detective  Duty,  li. 

MEANT 

To  God  with  what  you  meant! — • 
One  who  has  not  His  confidence  must  guess  it 

Dante,  11.,  i. 


246  A  POET'S  CABINET 

MEANT   RIGHT 

When  we  find  men  saying  they  meant  right, 
We  find  most  others  thinking  they  went  wrong. 

Idem,  I.,  2. 

MELANCHOLY 

Life  has  had  its  fill  of  pain; 
But  the  shade  of  melancholy  clasped  me  to  her  breast 

in  vain; 
Phantom-film    of  mortal  making,  why  dared  she  to 

hide  the  light? — 
Scarcely  had  I  dared  oppose  her,  ere  her  form  had  fled 

from  sight.         A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxv. 

MELANCHOLY  TEMPERAMENT,  THE 

And  some  are  born  with  heavy,  sluggish  blood, 
That  will  not  leave  the  heart  but  keeps  it  weighted. 

The  Aztec  God,  n. 

MEMORIES 

Our  homes,  as  we  grow  old,  are  in  our  memories. 
We  take  these  with  us,  wherever  we  may  go,  enjoying 
there  less  what  we  see  than  what  we  seem  to  see. 

On  Detective  Duty,  iv. 

MEMORIES  THAT  RETAIN  THE  UNPLEASANT 

You  know  there  are  people  whose  memories  act  like 
sinks.  You  may  flush  and  flood  and  scrub  them. 
They  keep  on  catching  and  holding  what  only  makes 
them  a  nuisance.  The  Ranch  Girl,  iv. 

MEMORY 

Behind  it  there  was  left  a  lingering  light 
Pervading  moods  of  memory  like  the  rays 
Pour'd  through  a  prism,  wherein  the  commonest  hues 
Will  spray  to  uncommon  colors  when  the}^  break. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  iv. 

MEMORY,  OBLIVIOUS  OF  THE  UNPLEASANT 

Our  memories  are  kind — would  rather  drop  their 
pen  than  blacken  joy  that  is  to  come  with  grief  that 
was.  They  let  us  tread  the  present  as  on  a  bridge  that 
rests  at  either  end  upon  a  past  and  future  that  seem 
bright.  Were  this  not  so,  were  it  not  so  upheld, 
'twould  fall  through  gulfs  of  bottomless  despair. 

On  Detective  Duty,  iv. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  247 

MEN  (see  man) 
Earth  was  Eden  till  the  pair  that  lived  there  tried  to 

make 
Gods  of  men,  but  only  dwarf'd  their  heirs  that  curse 
at  their  mistake. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xviil. 

MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GODS 

....  You  seemed  in  anger. 

....  So  are  gods  at  times. — 

They  think  of  men. 

....  Of  women  too? 

....  Oh  yes ; 

Of  women: — they  are  said  to  be  in  bliss. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

MERRIMENT,    RESULTING    FROM    NATURES    NEEDING    IT 

The  birds  that  sing  most  are  the  birds  whose  natures 
the  most  need  singing ;  and  the  men  that  make  merry 
the  most  are  the  men  whose  natures  most  need  a  world 
that  appears  to  be  merry.  The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

MESSENGERS 

One  may  judge 
A  message  from  its  messengers. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

MESSING    AND    MATING 

In  crowds  men  crave  companionship  with  men, 
where  all  can  throw  aside,  as  bathers  do,  all  thought  of 
dress  or  consequence,  and  lose  a  sense  of  difference  in 
the  harmony  of  superficial  but  hilarious  good  fellow- 
ship. With  women — well — most  men  like  women  best 
when  most  alone  with  them.  They  like  the  confi- 
dences half  revealed,  half  hidden,  that  show  the  traits 
that  separate  souls  not  alike,  but  complementary. 
Man's  love  for  man  may  be  but  secular,  for  woman, 
sacred;  yet  he  needs  them  both — men  for  a  throng, 
and  maids  for  t^te-a-t^tes.  To  mess  is  just  as  useful 
as  to  mate.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 

METHODS    vs.    MODELS 

Good  masters  give  us  methods  but  not  models. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

MILLIONAIRES   AND   INFLUENCE 

Your  millionaire  is  like  a  drop  cast  up  from  the  sea 


248  A  POETS  CABINET 

on  a  sunny  day,  reflecting  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow 
— so  you  think;  and,  to  an  extent,  your  thought  is 
true.  But  besides  this,  there  is  something  else  that's 
also  true.  The  drop  is  usually  dashed  high  up  onto  a 
cliff,  where  it  stays  and  expires  alone  and  useless. 
Meantime  the  great  ocean  of  humanity,  to  live  and 
work  in  which  and  with  which  and  for  which,  is  all 
that  makes  life  to  other  men  really  worth  the  living, 
moves  on  to  accomplish  its  destiny  without  perhaps  a 
single  serious  contribution  from  himself. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  iv. 

MILLIONAIRES  AND  LONELINESS 

It's  hard  to  live  in  a  world  where  one  was  meant  to 
go  with  others  and  to  find  himself  obliged  to  live  alone 
— his  purest  motives  misrepresented,  his  kindest  deeds 
misunderstood,  the  members  of  his  own  family  his 
worst  enemies,  and  everyone  to  whom  he  feels  that  he 
should  most  like  to  look  for  an  exchange  of  sympathy 
so  situated  as  to  think  that  it  can't  and  shouldn't  be 
given :  and  all  this  because  he's  the  son  of  a  millionaire. 

Idem,  III. 

MILLIONAIRES    AND    PROFLIGACY 

....  Oh,  you're  going  in  with  our  classmates, 
Bob  Martin  and  Jack  Sharp,  eh? 

....  How  so? 

....  Why,  they  are  millionaires. 

....  And  what  have  they  done? 

....  Why,  you  know!  Bob  has  written  a  play, 
and  Jack  a  novel,  both  of  them  intended  to  show  up 
the  profligate  lives  of  pleasure  led  by  the  millionaires. 

....  I  haven't  read  their  effusions.  Are  they 
interesting? 

....  Well,  rather! 

....  I  should  think  they  would  be.  Accounts  of 
profligacy  usually  are. 

....  But  these,  you  know,  are  founded  on  facts. 

....  On  all  the  facts? — Anything  less  than  all  the 
truth,  you  know,  is  never  the  whole  truth.  As  a  fact, 
most  millionaires  that  I  know  are  not  profligate.  If 
they  were,  or  had  been  for  any  length  of  time,  they 
wouldn't  be  millionaires.    Nor  are  their  pleasures  pro- 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  249 

fligate.     If  they  were,  or  had  been  for  any  length  of 
time,  they  wouldn't  be  pleasures.  Idem,  iv. 

MILLIONAIRES,  HANDICAP  OF  BEING 

It's  an  awful  handicap  to  be  the  son  of  a  millionaire, 
— to  know  you  have  something  inside  of  you,  and  yet 
to  know  that  everybody  about  supposes  that  all  you 
have  is  on  the  outside, — that  you  are  a  make-up  not  of 
mind  but  of  money.  Money  glitters  and  attracts — 
glitters  for  moths  and  attracts  the  mercenary;  makes 
one  a  center  of  superficiality,  brainlessness,  selfishness, 
sordidness,  sensuality.     What  Money  Can't  Buy,  11. 

MIND,  CHANGING  ANOTHER'S 

....  Have  you  or  I? — has  any  one  the  right  to 
turn  a  mind  from  that  which  its  own  thinking  has 
reckoned  wise? 

....  You  would  not  change  my  mind? 

....  I  would  not  love  you  if  I  tried  to  do  it;  for 
you  yourself  are  what  your  mind  has  made  you. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

MIND,    FUNCTION    OF 

A  man  who  fails  to  judge  the  character 
Of  what  is  promised  by  the  character 
Of  him  who  promises,  reveals  no  mind; 
For  mind  is  what  connects  effect  and  cause. 

Dante,  11.,  i. 

MIND  MOULDED  BY  ITS  OCCUPATION 

When  a  man  makes  anything,  he  moulds  not  only  it, 
but  moulds,  as  well,  the  tool  with  which  he  makes  it. 
The  sharpest  blade  was  never  keen  enough  to  keep  its 
own  edge,  was  it? — nor  so  dull  but  that  a  constant 
grind  might  sharpen  it?  It  seems  the  same  with 
minds.  The  scholar's  tools  are  thinking  tools,  and 
usually  by  merely  thinking  can  unravel  what  is  tangled 
into  knots.  But  business  friction  makes  the  tools 
too  sharp.  They  cut  the  knot  without  unraveling  it. 
Few  men  who  once  form  habits  of  not  thinking  except 
when  thought  is  absolutely  needed  can  rest  content 
with  thinking  as  a  life-work.         The  Two  Paths,  I. 

MINUTES 

Minutes  grow  the  seeds  from  which  the  things  that 
spring  may  fill  eternity.  On  Detective  Duty,  i. 


250  A  POET'S  CABINET 

MIRACLES 

Few  things,  when  we  turn  them  inside  out, 
Are  proved  to  be  the  miracles  we  thought  them. 

Dante,  ii.,  2. 

MIRE,    FALLING   IN 

A  man  may  fall  in  such  a  mire  that  when  he  tries 
to  clutch  a  thing  to  rise  on,  he  only  pulls  down  what 
may  sink  him  deeper.  The  Two  Paths,  11. 

MIRROR 

Ay ,  how  often,  when  the  light  that  guided  us  has  gleamed 

within, 
We  have  wish'd  that  our  reflections  might  enlighten 

then  our  kin, 
But  though  brighter  minds  might  aid  them,  ours,  at 

least,  were  dull  as  night, 
Striving  ever,  failing  ever,  half  our  views  to  mirror 

right.  A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  ix. 

MISSION 

There  can  be  no  one,  not  the  least  of  men, 

But  has  his  mission.    Half  a  mortal  he. 

And  half  a  spirit;  half  the  son  of  earth. 

And  half  of  heaven ;  it  is  his  work  divine 

To  mediate  for  his  race  between  the  two; 

To  take  the  life  God  gave  him  at  his  birth, — 

Its  germ,  its  growth,  and  all  its  varied  fruit, — 

And  offer  it,  like  him — that  greater  priest 

Who  offer'd  more — a  willing  sacrifice 

Upon  life's  altar,  where  the  heaven-bom  soul 

Is  tested  and  refined  by  fires  of  earth. 

Then  must  he  work  with  whatsoe'er  survives, 

And  show  to  men  his  preservations  grand 

Of  common  things  that  they  profane  and  slight, 

And  hush  their  murmurs  by  sublime  appeals 

That  urge  their  spirits  to  the  spirit's  best. 

Thus  can  he  fill  a  worthy  sphere,  and  be 

Earth's  humble  victim,  who,  its  prophet  too, 

Reveres  his  life  for  what  his  life  reveals. 

A  Life  in  Sojig:  Doubting,  XLI. 

When  all  sailing  is  over,  the  shouts  of  a  state 
That  hail  a  Columbus  may  name  him  great. 
Before  it  is  over,  that  isle  of  the  west. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  251 

The  goal  of  his  quest, 
Is  merely,  for  most,  the  point  of  a  jest. 
Nor  a  few,  the  while  he  turns  to  his  mission, 
Will  deem  him  moved  by  a  mean  ambition. 
Ay,  often  indeed,  the  nobler  the  claims 

Inspiring  his  aims. 

The  more  earth  deems 

They  are  selfish  schemes 
Of  a  Joseph  it  hates  for  having  strange  dreams. 
Unveiling  the  Monument. 

MISSION,   FINDING  ONE's 

With  broaden'd  means,  led  on  to  push 
Toward  broaden'd  purposes,  I  spoke  and  wrote; 
And  found,  anon,  while  aiding  here  and  there 
Where  aid  was  rare,  wide  opening  to  my  view, 
A  worthiest  mission.     Ideals  Made  Real,  lxvii. 

I  like  to  think  this  frame  of  mine 
Contains  a  spark  of  life  divine. 
Enkindled  there  with  some  design. 
I  oft  have  thought,  there  ought  to  be 
Some  light  to  glow  and  flow  from  me, 
And  show  what  all  men  long  to  see. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  ill. 

MISSION   OF   MAN,    SPIRITUAL 

There  is  one  only  mission  fit  for  man, — 
To  be  a  spirit  ministering  to  spirit. 
What  fits  for  this? — A  breath  of  higher  sky, 
A  sight  of  higher  scenes,  at  times,  a  strife 
To  mount  by  means  impossible  as  yet. 
What  then? — Believe  me  that  the  spirit-air, 
Like  all  the  air  above  the  soil  we  tread, 
Takes  to  its  own  environment  of  light 
No  growth  to  burst  there  into  flower  and  fruit 
That  does  not  get  some  start,  and  root  itself 
Amid  this  lower  world's  deep,  alien  darkness, — 
No  spirit  uses  wings  in  heaven  that  never 
Has  learned  of  them,  or  longed  for  them,  on  earth. 

Berlin  Mountain. 

MISSION,  MAN  WITH  A 

The  more  they  knew  him,  something  made  of  him 
Still  more  a  stranger.     All  about  his  life 


252  A  POET'S  CABINET 

There  hung  an  atmosphere  of  mystery. 
He  seem'd  through  it  to  see  what  they  saw  not; 
And  as  their  hush  would  heed  the  rare  reports 
That  reach'd  them  through  the  music  of  his  voice, 
His  thought  oft  seem'd  a  spirit's;  none  could  tell 
From  whence  it  came;  nor  trace  it  where  it  went. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Prelude. 

MISSION  vs.  MISTRESS 

....  A  woman  craves  attention  and  a  home. 
Her  lover's  mission,  let  it  oft  withdraw 
His  ear  or  sphere  from  her,  seems  then  her  rival. 
....  It  would  not,  did  she  love  the  man's  true  self. 
....  Perhaps,  and  yet  the  kinds  of  love  men  feel 
For  mistress  or  for  mission  are  so  like! — 
What,  if  behind  the  mission's  love  should  be 
Some  sentient  spirit  too  in  realms  unseen? 
These  women  may  be  right.     They  may  have  rivals. 

Columbus,  II;  I. 

MISSIONS 

Some  souls  have  missions  because  misled. 

Righting  a  Wrong. 
....  True  missions  only  serve  the  higher  self. 
....  Some  people  always  think  their  own  selves 

higher 
Than  are  the  selves  of  those  about  them. 

Dante,  ill,  i. 

MISSIONS  vs.  BUSINESS 

One's  mission,  as  a  rule, 
Is  wrought  alone;  one's  business  with  others. 
Things  done  alone  may  but  be  done  for  self. 
Things  done  with  others  may  be  done,  too,  for  them. 

Idem. 

MISTAKE,  MADE  EXCUSABLE  BY  MAKING  IT  WORSE 

You  know  when  one  gets  into  slippery  places,  and 
starts  to  slide  down  hill,  the  safest  thing,  at  times,  is 
not  to  try  to  stop  himself,  but  keep  on  sliding,  till  he 
touches  bottom.  So  when  a  man  has  made  a  big 
mistake,  he  sometimes  makes  a  bigger  one,  in  case  he 
fails  to  emphasize  the  one  he  made,  so  all  will  see  how 
big  it  was,  and  what  a  big  excuse  he  had  for  making  it. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  253 

MISTRESS    OF    THE    HOUSEHOLD 

I  know  one  household  now 
All  radiant  through  its  mistress !     Where  she  dwells 
A  sweet  content  pervades  the  very  air, 
And  genial  sympathy  smiles  on  to  make 
Each  whole  long  year  one  summer  of  delight. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxxv. 

MISUNDERSTOOD  {see  UNDERSTOOD) 

All  the  thoughts 
That  flood  the  world  spring  up  from  single  souls; 
And  some  of  these  may  bless  it  most  when  made 
To  spend  their  Hves  interpreting  themselves. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 
I  fear  that  any  soul 
That  needs  to  be  interpreted,  before 
It  gains  the  common  love  of  common  men — 
For  this  alone  is  all  for  which  I  long — 
Dwells  in  the  doom  of  some  uncommon  curse. 

Idem, 

MOB 

Then  I  saw  a  wiser  instinct,  flowing  forth  unitedly, 
Where  were  crowds  that  came  together  at  the  call  of 

liberty, 
Which,  like  thunder  on  the  hillside,  rousing  rills  from 

every  spring. 
When  they  dash  to  seas  that  madly  o'er  the  rocks  the 

breakers  fling, 
Roused,  anon,  a  mass  of  mortals,  who  beneath  a  hissing 

tide, 
Quench 'd   the  flaming   guns  that   bellow'd   from   a 

tyrant's  tower  defied. 
Then  anon  the  wrath  subsided;  but  the  mob,  ere  back 

it  roU'd, 
Had  to  havoc  swept  the  good  as  well  as  bad  that 

thrived  of  old.      A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  viii. 

MODERN  (see  progress) 

Think  you,  friend  that   naught 
Has  dimm'd  with  new  alloy  the  modern  phrase, 
And  that  it  still  makes  clear  thought's  ancient  phase? 
Nay,  may  not  one's  own  thinking,  too,  debase 
The  soul's  pure  springs  of  God's  inspiring  grace? 


254  ^  POET'S  CABINET 

If  SO,  can  one  be  wise,  and  take  no  thought 
Of  what  another  spirit  has  been  taught? 

Idem,  Seeking,  xlv. 

MODEST 

The  modest  may  be  more  unjust  to  self 
Than  are  the  egotistic  to  their  fellows. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

To  be 
Too  modest,  is  to  lag  behind,  and  break 
God's  lines,  who  ranks  us  right. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

MODESTY,    A    WOMAN's 

A  woman's  modesty  is  her  best  treasure-case  in 
which  to  hide  her  morals,  yes — but  if  a  drunken  thief, 
she  probably  has  lived  so  long  with  thieves  that  the 
treasure-case  is  empty.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

MOMENTS 

Life  is  poised  on  slender  moments;  all  eternity  on 

time; 
And  the  "still  small  voice"  reveals  the  presence  of  a 

power  sublime.     A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  i. 

MONEY  {see  MARRIAGE  FOR  WEALTH) 

The  time  will  come  when  money 

Will  pay  what  work  is  worth ; 
Will  buy  your  task,  and  none  will  ask 

Your  station  or  your  birth. 
The  right  to  earnings  will  be  won 
By  what  a  man  himself  has  done. 
The  time  will  come  when  money 

Will  not  seem  more  than  man; 
But  hearts  will  j^earn  with  all  they  eara 

To  help  all  men  they  can. 
In  rolls  of  honor  in  that  state, 
Great  love  alone  will  make  men  great. 
The  time  will  come  when  money 

Will  not  buy  one  a  crown — 
To  lift  a  snob  above  the  mob 

And  keep  all  others  down. 
For  men,  to  inward  worth  alert, 
Will  only  bow  to  true  desert. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  i. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  255 

MONEY  AS  A  TOY  {see  GAMBLING) 

At  some  time,  you  know,  boys  always  use  up  or  lose 
their  toys.  In  the  end,  the  same  thing  happens  to 
men  who  begin  to  play  with — make  toys  of — their 
money.  The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  iii. 

MONEY  MAKING   {see  COMPETENCE) 

....  Would  not  make  money,  then? 

....  Enough  to  spend;  but  not  enough  for  coffers, 
or  for  coffins.  You  gild  a  living  leaf,  and  it  will  die. 
You  cover  living  souls  with  gold,  too  often  they  shine 
for  others  but  decay  for  self.  Their  buried  best  is 
never  brought  to  light.  The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

MONOMANIACS  {see  consistent) 
MONUMENT  {see  FAME,  POSTUMOUS,  and  tomb) 
Not  oft,  nor  till  ages  of  suns  and  storms 
Have  wrought  with  the  verdure  in  earthly  forms,  ■' 
Are  these  tum'd  into  stone,  no  more  to  decay. 
But  often  on  earth 
The  owners  of  worth 
That  men  image  in  marble  grow  stony,  that  way. 
Ah,  man,  whom  in  hardship  you  might  make  a  friend 
And  turn  from — beware,  beware  in  the  end. 
Lest  he  whom  you  harden  grow  hard  unto  you. 

O  world,  when  ready  your  hero  to  cheer, 
How  heeds  he  your  welcome?  say,  what  does  he  do? 

His  eye,  does  it  see?  his  ear,  does  it  hear? 
His  heart,  does  it  throb?  his  pulse,  does  it  thrill? 
Or  his  touch,  is  it  cold?  his  clasp,  is  it  chill? — 
O  world,  you  have  waited  long;  what  have  you  done? 
O  man,  you  have  wrought  so  long;  what  have  you 
won? — 

That  monument  there. 
So  high,  so  fair. 
That  throne  of  light  for  the  man  who  led. 
Is  only  a  tomb.     They  are  cheering  the  dead. 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 

MOOD,    EVIL 

Your  evil  mood  is  master  of  your  thought 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

MOODS,   LIGHT,    RESULTING   FROM   TROUBLE 

The  lightest  of  moods,  and  the  brightest  as  well,  are 


256  A  POET'S  CABINET 

often  mere  spray  flung  up  from  the  waves  that  a 
serious  blow  has  been  tossing.       The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

MOON,  THE,  IN  A  STORM 

At  last,  my  doubt  had  made  me  leave  my  beads, 

And,  moved  as  if  to  cool  a  feverish  faith. 

Pass  out,  the  night  air  seeking.     There  I  saw 

The  moon.     It  soothed  me  always  with  strange  spells, 

The  moon.     But  now,  as  though  all  things  would  join 

To  rout  my  peace,  I  seem'd  this  moon  to  see 

Caught  up  behind  an  angry  horde  of  clouds, 

Chased  by  the  hot  breath  of  a  coming  storm 

That  clang'd  his  thunder-bugle  through  the  west. 

When  once  the  rude  gust  hit  the  moon,  it  tipt — 

Or  so  it  seem'd — and  with  a  deafening  peal 

It  spilt  one  blinding  flash.     Then,  where  this  lit, 

Just  in  the  path  before  me  gleam'd  a  knife! 

Held  o'er  a  form  of  white!     To  see  the  thing 

I  scream'd  aloud.     It  seem'd  a  ghost! 

Haydn,  xxxi. 

MORAL  EQUAL 

My  soul  demands  in  one  whom  I  obey 
A  moral  equal,  at  the  least. 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 

MORBID 

They  call  me  morbid —  if  they  mean 
I  hate  the  wrong,  wherever  seen; 
And  make  supreme  my  own  ideal; 
And  grieve  to  find  it  not  made  real; 
I  hail  the  name.     No  titles  go 
From  earth  to  bias  heaven,  I  trow. 
Men's  normal  moods  may  sink  and  swell 
At  one  with  tides  that  drift  to  hell. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  ix. 

MOTHER 

How  oft  in  the  night,  'mid  the  wind's  wild  sweep 
Through  the  leaf -hung  trees,  or  the  spray-flung  deep, 
My  eye  sees  not,  but  a  light  will  gleam 
Like  an  angel-face  in  an  angel-dream; 

And  back  through  the  years 

My  hush'd  soul  hears 
The  call  of  a  tone 


With  cravings  pale 
For  church  and  stole  and  sermons  of  my  own. 

See  page  joi. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  257 

Like  the  spirit's  own; 
And  I  feel  the  press 
Of  a  lost  caress, 

And  of  lips  that  bear 
Both  a  kiss  and  a  prayer 
For  my  cheeks  that  glow  as  my  pulses  thrill. 
Ah,  is  it  a  wonder  my  eye  should  fill? 
I  feel,  whatever  my  life  may  be. 
That  one  in  the  past  had  love  for  me; 
When,  dear  as  a  boon  from  a  realm  of  the  blest. 
My  soul  was  press'd 
To  my  mother's  breast. 

Idem,  Lovitig,  vi. 

MOTHERHOOD 

She  hints — not  so? — that  truest  womanhood 
Is  maidenhood? — By  Eve  and  Mary,  false! — 
The  mother  lives  the  model  of  her  sex. 
And  not  the  maid.  Haydn,  xlii. 

The  tender  plant  that  springs  to  the  air 

From  the  small  frail  urn  of  youth 
Is  trained,  if  at  all,  by  a  woman's  care 

For  the  flowering  and  fruitage  of  truth. 
Each  home  is  an  Eden  that  owns  an  Eve 
Whose  deeds  make  all  life  joy  or  grieve. 

Love  and  Life,  vii. 

MOTHS   vs.    WORMS 

More  blest  the  short-lived  moths  that  fly  to  flame 
Straight  through  a  pathway  lit  by  coming  light 
Than  long-lived  worms  that  crawl  thro'  endless  mire. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

MOTIVES   AND   THOUGHT 

What  moves  me  seems  beyond  all  conscious  thought; 
Seems  like  the  lure  that  leads  the  summer  bird 
Southward  when  comes  the  fall.     It  is  enough, 
It  is  my  destiny.     I  weigh  it  well, 
And  find  it  rational;  yet  why  I  first 
Conceived  it  as  I  do,  I  cannot  tell. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 
If  men  were  manikins  they  might  be  moved  by  mo- 
tives not  translated  into  thought.     But  men  have 
minds,  and  so  they  often  get  what  guides  more  wisely 
17 


258  A  POET'S  CABINET 

from  a  knave  who  thinks  than  from  a  saint  contented 
with  his  motives.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  iii. 

MOULDS  {see  forms) 
Souls  that  find  their  calmest  living  must  be  one  long 

struggle  here 
With  the  moulds  that  strain  and  shatter  all  that 
nature's  child  holds  dear. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxi. 

MOUNTAINEERS 

And  they  forgot  that  mountaineers, 

High  rangers,  like  the  Swiss, 
Would  learn  to  value  freedom's  world 

By  looking  down  on  this!        Ethan  Allen. 

MOUNTAINS 

My  mountains,  how  I  love  your  forms  that  stand 

So  beautiful,  so  bleak,  so  grim,  so  grand. 

Your  gleaming  crags  above  my  boyhood's  play, 

Undimm'd  as  hope,  rose  o'er  each  rising  day. 

When  now  light  hope  has  yielded  place  to  care, 

O'er  steadfast  work  I  see  you  steadfast  there. 

And  when  old  age  at  last  shall  yearn  for  rest, 

By  your  white  peaks  will  each  aspiring  glance  be  blest. 

How  bright  and  broad  with  ever  fresh  surprise, 

The  scenes  ye  brought  allured  my  youthful  eyes ! 

Now,  when  rude  hands  those  views  of  old  assail, 

When  growing  towns  have  changed  the  lower  vale. 

When  other  friends  are  lost  or  sadly  strange, 

Ye  stand  familiar  still,  ye  do  not  change. 

And  when  all  else  abides  as  now  no  more, 

In  you  I  still  may  see  the  forms  I  loved  of  yore. 

Ye  mounts  deserve  long  life.     Your  peaks  at  dawn 

Catch  light  no  sooner  from  the  night  withdrawn. 

Than  those  ye  rear  see  truth,  when  brave  men  vow 

To  serve  the  serf,  and  bid  the  despot  bow. 

In  vales  below,  if  tyrants  make  men  mild. 

The  weak  who  scale  your  sides  learn  winds  are  wild. 

That  beasts  break  loose,  and  birds  awaken'd  flee, 

As  if  in  deepest  sleep  they  dream'd  of  being  free. 

High  homes  of  manhood,  human  lips  can  phrase 

No  tribute  fit  to  echo  half  your  praise. 

By  Piedmont's  church  and  Ziska's  rock-wall'd  see. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  259 

By  Scot  and  Swiss  who  left  their  children  free, 
By  our  New  England,  when  she  named  him  knave 
Who,  fiank'd  by  bloodhounds,  chased  his  ;fleeing  slave, 
Stand  ye  like  them,  whose  memories,  ever  grand, 
Tower  far  above  earth's  lords,  as  ye  above  its  land. 
Ay,  stand  like  monuments  in  lasting  stone 
To  souls  as  lofty  as  the  world  has  known. 
Ye  fitly  symbol,  when  with  kindling  light 
The  dawn  and  sunset  gild  your  summits  white, 
The  glories  of  their  pure,  aspiring  worth 
Who  aim'd  at  stars  to  feed  the  hopes  of  earth; 
And  fitly  point  where  they,  in  brighter  skies. 
View  grander  scenes  than  yours  where  your  heights 
cannot  rise.  My  Mountains. 

MOUNTAINS,    INFLUENCE    OF,    ON    THOUGHT 

How  blest  the  child  whose  thought  begins  to  build 

Ideals  of  deeds  on  dreams  that,  morn  by  morn, 

Awake  to  greet  a  mother's  flushing  face 

That  bends  above  his  cradle!     Many  a  soul 

Reared  in  these  valleys  where,  like  mighty  sides 

Of  some  far  grander  cradle,  lift  these  hills. 

And  where  in  bleakest  wintry  skies  appears 

Thy  mountain's  white  brow  warmed  with  flush  of  dawn, 

Has  waked  to  see  thee,  day  by  day,  until 

The  habit  grew  a  part  of  life  itself 

And  ruled  his  being, — that  whatever  light 

Left  heaven  or  lit  the  earth  would  find  his  form 

In  paths  where  it  was  always  moving  upward. 

Greylock. 
With  what  delight  my  heart  first  welcomed  thee! 
And  then,  like  one  whose  form  lies  prone  in  sleep, 
My  young  imagination  woke  and  rose 
And  strove  to  climb,  and  heaven  alone  can  tell 
How  wisely  has  been  climbing  ever  since.        Idem. 

MOUNTAINS,  SUGGESTIVE  OF  CREATIVE  FORCE 

No  hands  of  human  art  could  be  the  first 
To  draw  thy  contour's  broken  lines  against 
The  ended  glory  of  the  sunset  sky. 
No  thought  of  human  mind  could  ever  plan. 
Nor  pov/er  uphold  them.     Nay,  they    must    have 
sprung 


260  A  POET'S  CABINET 

To  shape  like  this  when  some  primeval  frost 
Chilled,    caught    and    crystallized    the    storm-swept 

waves 
Of  chaos  that,  arrested  in  their  rage, 
They  fitly  might  portray  the  power  beneath. 
Stay  there,  great  billows,  all  your  boulder-drops 
Held  harmless  where  they  hang;  and  all  the  spray 
That  might  have  dashed  above  them  merely  leaves 
Of  bush  and  forest,  held  to  equal  pause 
Save  where,  perchance,  their  fluttering,  now  and  then, 
Reveals  a  feeling  that  they  once  were  free; 
Stay  there  suspended  in  the  sky!     But  sure 
As  days  roll  up  the  sun,  an  hour  must  come 
When  blazing  blasts  again  shall  shake  those  peaks, 
Shall  pile  them  higher,  level  them  to  plains, 
Or  melt  them  back  to  primal  nothingness. 

West  Mountain. 

MOUNTAINS,  SUGGESTIONS  OF  SURROUNDING 

Did  ever  yet  a  form  appear  on  earth 

Divine  in  mission  that  would  fail  to  bless 

Those,  too,  who  could  but  touch  its  garment's  hem? 

As  long  as  thinking  can  be  shaped  by  things. 

And  that  which  holds  our  hfe  can  mould  our  love, 

What  soul  can  seek  the  skies  with  wistful  gaze 

And  be  content  with  only  soil  below? 

Oh,  does  it  profit  naught  that  one  should  dwell 

Amid  surroundings  that  no  eyes  can  see 

Save  as  they  look  above,  no  feet  can  leave, 

To  seek  the  outer  world,  save  as  they  climb? 

Where  every  prospect  homes  itself  on  high. 

And  each  horizon  seems  a  haunt  of  heaven? 

Greylock. 

MOUNTAINS   IN  A   THUNDER   STORM 

We  saw  the  mountain-summits  as  before. 
And  soon,  upon  the  highest  peak  of  all, 
Some  clouds  appear'd.     They  seem'd,  ere  long,  to 

crawl 
Along  the  hights,  and  lengthen  out,  and  show 
Themselves  the  first  of  others  gathering  so, 
Which  soon  closed  up  behind  them.     Then  we  heard 
The  moan  of  forests  that  above  were  stirr'd; 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  261 

Then  nearer  trees  began  to  quake  and  sway; 
And  with  good  cause !  for  blackening  all  the  way 
A  storm  was  coming  on,  with  an  array 
As  fierce  as  hosts  of  fiends  might  be,  if  sent 
From  hell  to  charge  some  heavenly  battlement. 
As  fiercely,  foully,  did  its  forces  try 
To  break  the  lines  of  light  in  earth  and  sky, 
With  sad  success !  they  carried  each  redoubt ; 
And,  bounding  down  with  thunder-tread  and  shout, 
On  every  side  their  weapons  flash'd,  and  lash'd 
The  howling  waste  through  which  their  fury  dash'd. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xxii. 

MOUNTAIN    VIEW 

At  last  we  reach' d  a  dark  defile, 

Through  which  a  river  dash'd ;  but  soon  the  dell 

Became  a  precipice,  adown  which  fell 

The  spray-sent  stream,  then  thunder 'd  its  farewell 

A  thousand  feet  below.     From  where  we  stood 

We  watch'd  it  wind  and  gleam  amid  a  wood. 

Whose  tree-tops  far  beneath  us  waved  away, 

Well  swept  by  winds  that  made  them  sigh  and  sway, 

Across  a  sea-like  space  of  hills  and  dales. 

The  high-heaved  peaks  and  all  the  deep-rent  vales 

Were  bright  with  autumn's  tints  that  end  the  year 

Like  sunset  ending  day.     "The  glories  here 

Bespeak  translation  and  not  death,"  said  he. 

"These  leaves  are  bright  as  flowers  that  lure  the  bee 

In  orchards.     When  they  fall,  the  limbs  are  clear 

For  life's  fresh  fruitage  of  the  coming  year. 

So  find  I  autumn's  hues  of  gold  and  red 

Worn  by  each  season,  ere  the  leaves  are  shed, 

A  mantle  which  the  old  year  from  the  skies 

Drops  like  Elijah's,  and  it  prophesies 

New  life  beyond  to  which  all  nature  hies."     Idem,  XVI. 

MOURNER,  EXPERIENCE  OF  A 

Last  night  when  darkness  fell  and  veiled  my  face 
From  those  I  surely  thought  it  else  had  frighted, 
I  walked  the  streets  and  watched  the  city  dream. 
In  lanes,  in  inns,  in  churches,  and  in  homes 
Each  face  I  gazed  at  loomed  as  grim  with  shadows 
As  those  that  clung  to  mine.     Her  funeral  pall 


262  A  POETS  CABINET 

Seemed  closely  hung  about  my  form  as  her's, 
Flopping  a  dangling,  dire,  bedraggled  fringe 
Of  tear-soaked  black  between  myself  and  all  things. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 

MOUTH 

I  would  rather  risk, 
Without  a  disenchanting  yell  or  yolp, 
Extracting  teeth  than  thought  from  such  a  mouth. 

Idem,  I.,  I. 
Were  I  a  moth 
In  a  rug  their  crowd  came  trampling,  I  should  fight — 
Ay,  with  my  mouth,  too,  as  you  seem  to  ask — 
And  keep  on  fighting  there,  until  I  wrought 
My  way  to  something  that  could  not  be  trampled. 

Idem, 
....  He  talked,  at  first,  of  eating  and  of  drinking. 
....  Quite  natural !     The  mouth,  like  other  things 
will  buzz  the  most  of  what  it  does  the  most. 

On  Detective  Duty  iii. 

MOUTH,  KEEPING  IT  SHUT 

....  But  if  you  drug  him? — 

....  He  himself  gave  you  the  chance.  Con- 
founded idiot — should  have  kept  his  mouth  shut ! 

....  The  same  that  one  could  say  of  most  fools. 

....  Yes;  the  sooner,  too,  they  find  it  out  the 
better.  Why  were  our  stomachs  put  inside  our  bodies, 
why  were  our  senses  put  inside  our  skulls,  if  we  were 
meant  to  open  up  to  everything?  Idem,  ii. 

JIOUTHS,  FOR  TALKING  AS  WELL  AS    EATING 

Our  human  mouths  are  doors  that  swing  in  front  of 
souls  as  well  as  palates, — where  the  fun  comes  out  as 
well  as  food  goes  in.  To  balance  the  lower  use  of 
them  in  chewing,  'tis  better,  when  we  eat,  to  talk. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

MOVEMENT 

Nay,  as  the  flush'd  and  fever'd  blood  will  start 
About  the  shot  that  rends  a  soldier's  breast. 

As  if  mere  movement  could  remove  the  smart, 
Unrest  relieved  his  pain,  each  month  revealing 

A  milder  movement  and  a  firmer  eye. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  Lxxiil. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  263 

MURILLO 

No  sweeter  Murillo's  divine  designs, 
Whose  purity  rivals  each  thought  it  refines, 
While  the  dreamy  intent  of  a  life-brooding  haze 
Throngs  thick  with  the  beauty  of  immature  praise. 
Conceptions  immaculate  still  may  be 
In  the  pure  white  light  that  he  could  see, 
Inspired  to  incarnate  a  soul  in  each  plan, 
The  life  of  a  picture  as  well  as  of  man. 

The  Artist's  Aim. 

MUSE 

Woe  me,  I  stand, 
A  poet  born,  who  deem'd  his  Muse  had  fled; 
That  time  and  trouble  had  a  stone  roU'd  up, 
Her  sweet  form  sealing  in  their  sepulchre. 
And  yet  one  breath  of  love  could  rouse  the  dead. 
All  day  the  subtle  spirit  haunts  me  now, 
Thrill'd  through  and  through  to  sound  her  sweetness 
forth.  Ideals  Made  Real,  liii. 

MUSIC  {see  harmony) 

Music  throbs  with  life. 
The  sounds  are  sentient  .  .  . 
They  make  me  thrill,  as  if  a  power  should  come, 
And  touch,  with  hands  below  these  fleshly  robes. 
And  clasp,  as  loving  spirits  do,  the  spirit. 
They  woo  me  as  a  god  might,  owning  heaven. 

Haydn,  i. 

MUSIC,  EXPRESSING  GRIEF 

Did  ever  harpsichord  so  crave  a  voice 

To  utter  forth  a  cry  of  full  despair? 

Did  ever  aught  that  human  hands  could  touch 

So  tremble  to  reveal  such  agony 

As  wrung  the  frame  of  him  whose  fingers  wrought, 

Along  the  sympathetic  key-board  there. 

The  counterpoint  still  pointing  out  his  woe? 

Haydn,  xlv. 

I  never  so  had  trembled  at  the  peals 
Of  thunder  as  beneath  the  chords  he  struck; 
Nor  felt  my  cheek  so  moist  by  rains  as  there 
By  tears  that  flow'd  as  flow'd  his  melodies; 
While  all  the  air  about  appear'd  surcharged 


264  ^  POETS  CABINET 

With  dangerous  force  electric,  touch'd  alone 
To  flash  keen  suffering  from  his  heart  to  mine. 
And  yet,  each  day,  his  music  sweeter  swell'd. 
Ere  that,  it  may  have  lack'd  in  undertone, 
The  pleading  pathos  of  half-utter'd  grief: 
Since  then,  I  never  hear  it  but  it  seems 
As  if  the  heavens  had  been  bereaved  of  love, 
And  pour'd  their  sad  complaint  on  earth  beneath; 
And  I  who  listen  to  the  sweetness  of  it 
Can  never  tell  if  I  should  smile  or  weep 
To  think  that  it  has  come  so  far  below. 
Or  feel  that  it  has  left  so  much  above. 

Idem,  XLVi. 

MUSIC  FREES  THE  MIND  IT  RULES 

What  different  moods. 
These  chords,  we  hear,  arouse  in  different  minds ! 
That  maid  may  smile  amid  sweet  dreams  of  love ; 
Her  dark  attendant  dream  of  but  her  wealth; 
That  matron  plan  some  fresh  self-sacrifice; 
And  that  spare  fellow,  twirling  near  her  side 
The  soft  mustache  that  downs  his  pursing  lips. 
Plan  only  how  to  hide  their  stingy  look. 
And  thus  all  listen,  musing  different  things ; 
And  all,  with  conscious  freedom,  muse  of  them; 
And  yet  one  harmony  controls  them  all, 
Aroused  or  calm  to  match  its  changing  flow. 
What  else  but  music  frees  the  mind  it  rules? 
"Good-will  to  man,"  was  first  proclaim'd  in  song. 
Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxviii. 

MUSIC   OF   LIFE 

Music  round  the  world  is  ringing, 

Sweeter  ne'er  is  heard  by  man; 
Music  angel  hosts  were  singing, 

Ere  the  morning  stars  began; 
Sweeter  't  is  than  dreams  of  music, 

Music  one  awakes  to  hear 
Trailing  on  a  train  of  echoes 

O'er  a  mild  and  moonlit  meer; 
More  it  moves  than  martial  marches. 

More  than  gleams  of  long-lost  hope. 
More  than  suns  to  glory  lifting 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  265 

Dew  they  draw  from  plain  and  slope; 
Music  't  is  that  thrills  us  only 

In  the  art  that  hearts  control, 
When  the  breath  of  ardor  holy 

Softly  stirs  a  sighing  soul. 

The  Music  oj  Life. 

MUSIC   OF   NATURE 

At  times,  mysterious  whirs  of  winds  and  wings 
And  whisperings  rose,  with  long-drawn  echoings. 
'T  was  music,  lingering  lovingly  along 
The  breeze  its  fragrance  freighted,  like  a  song 
From  bay-bound  barks  in  hazy  autumn  calms  ; 
Nor  less  it  sway'd  my  soul  than  slow  low  psalms, 
Begun  where  organ  blasts  that  roar'd  and  rush'd 
And  made  the  air- waves  roll,  are  swiftly  hush'd, 
And  our  thrill'd  breasts  inhale  as  well  as  hear 
The  awe-fill'd  sweetness  of  the  atmosphere. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  iv. 

MUSIC  OF  THE  SPHERES 

The  wise  who  once  thought  heavenly  spheres, 
As  all  unroll'd  their  store  of  years. 
Woke  music  through  their  atmospheres 

That  soft  and  far  was  ringing; 
Heard  subtler  music,  it  may  be. 
Where  love  rules  all,  yet  all  are  free. 
And  though  not  thoughts,  yet  hearts  agree, 

For  all  beat  time  in  singing. 

A  Song  on  Singing. 

MUSICAL  vs.  POETIC  MOVEMENT 

Music  moves  forward  like  a  wheel  when  its  spokes 
are  revolving,  the  united  influence  of  the  tones  being 
far  more  marked  than  the  significance  of  separate 
tones.  Poetry  moves  forward  like  one  walking,  step  by 
step,  the  united  influence  of  sentences  being  scarcely 
more  perceptible  than  that  of  separate  words. 

The  Representative  Significance  of  Form,  xxii. 

MUSICIAN 

How  could  I  show  more  worth. 

Than  as  a  reed  for  a  breath  divine. 

Blowing  from  heaven  to  earth? 

Musician  and  Moralizer. 


266  A  POET'S  CABINET 

MYSTERY  IN  LOVE 

Do  we  mention  love?     Oh,  how  should  we  dare? 

For  love  one  may  only  harm 
By  stripping  its  form  of  the  mystery  there, 

Which  is  oft  its  holiest  charm. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XL. 

MYSTERY  IN  RELIGION 

Naught  can  train  more  truthful  piety 
Than  earnest  thought,  awaiting  patiently 
In  heaven's  own  light  each  heavenly  mystery. 

Idem,  Seeking,  XLVII. 
Could  one  solve 
All  motives  and  all  means  of  mystery, 
There  were  no  sphere  for  faith. 

Dante,  ii.,  2. 

Can  aught  that  men  serve  reverently 
Be  void  of  deep  dark  voids  of  mystery? 

A  Life  in  Song: Seeking,  XLVii. 

MYTH 

You,  like  a  myth, 
Are  not  inspired,  but  yet  inspiring;  not 
Religion,  but  could  make  a  man  religious. 

Columbus,  II.,  I. 

NATURE,  AND  HUMAN  CHARACTER 

No  character,  I  think,  grows  wholly  ripe 
Save  that  which  grows  as  nature  guides  its  growth. 

Haydn,  XLI. 

NATURE   AND  HUMAN   INFLUENCE 

Earth  might  have  more  of  beauty,  had  it  had 

More  continence;  nor  spent,  and  spawned  such  crowds 

Between  ourselves  and  nature.     As  it  is, 

What  tempt  our  taste  appear  too  often  served 

Like  viands  one  can  scarcely  see  for  flies, 

Or  test  for  spice  and  pepper.  Dante,  iii.,  2. 

NATURE,  AS  A  GUIDE  TO  ACTION 

What  has  a  man  that  a  child  has  too, 
When  "of  such  is  the  kingdom"  on  high? 
He  knows  that  life  is  better'd  by  rules, 
But  he  knows  how  split  the  wise  and  the  fools 

When  judging  of  rules  they  apply. 
He  feels  that  life  worth  living  proceeds 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  267 

From  nature  that  prompts  the  bent  of  deeds ; 
And  he  lets  the  reins  of  his  being  go, 
Whenever  the  soul  moves  upward  so. 
If  he  look  to  God  through  self  or  His  Book, 
Or  leading  the  way  through  a  bishop's  crook, 
He  welcomes  whatever  has  worth  in  the  new, 
Though  it  grew  outside  of  his  Timbuctoo. 
For  modest  he  is,  and  loves  to  find 
Earth  blest  by  minds  that  differ  in  kind. 
In  short,  to  the  simple,  the  frail,  and  the  few 
He  is  fill'd  with  charity  through  and  through; 
And,  waiving  your  reason  its  right  of  control. 
Trusts  God  for  enough  truth  left  in  your  soul ; 
And  though  he  may  tell  you  he  doubts  your  way, 
He  has  much  to  love  in  spite  of  his  "nay"; 
And  that  may  a  man  and  a  child  have  too. 

Of  Such  Is  the  Kingdom. 

NATURE,  BEING  TRUE  TO 

Ah,  he  who  learns  of  this,  and  comes  to  live 
In  close  communion  with  it,  finds,  at  times. 
When  Nature  whom  he  loves  has  laid  aside 
Her  outer  guise  and  clasps  him  to  her  heart. 
That  there  are  mysteries,  not  vague  but  clear, 
Not  formless  but  concrete,  which,  it  must  be, 
That  those  alone  can  know,  or  have  a  right 
To  know,  who  always,  like  a  faithful  spouse. 
Have  kept  their  spirits  to  the  spirit  true. 

West  Mountain. 

NATT'RE,  INDIVIDUAL 

In  loneliness  I  wander'd; 
When,  lo,  above  me,  ringing 

Amid  the  breeze 

That  shook  the  trees, 
I  heard  a  bird's  glad  singing. 
I  looked,  and  through  the  leaves  could  see 
The  warbler  nod  and  chirp  for  me. 
"One  friend  is  left  me  yet, "  thought  I, 

And  ventur'd  near 

The  song  to  hear ; 
But  when  he  saw  me  drawing  nigh, 

Alas,  in  fright 

He  took  to  flight! 


268  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Not,  not  for  me  had  been  his  care. 
He  sang  to  greet  the  sunny  air, 
And  serve  his  own  sweet  nature. 

A  Misapprehension. 
We  fight  the  hydra,  we, 
Who  war  against  our  nature.     Every  head 
That  reason  clove  would  rise  redoubled  there. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xiii. 

Some  natures  are  choice  as  gems,  and  every  tool 
men  turn  against  them  grinds  itself,  not  them,  and  all 
grow  brighter  from  the  process.        The  Two  Paths,  in. 

You  know  there  are  some  natures  that  act  toward 
our  own  as  flowers  do  toward  bees.  No  matter  how 
much  we  buzz  about  them,  even  though  we  sting  them, 
once  in  a  while,  we  never  get  back  anything  but 
sweetness.  Where  Society  Leads,  in. 

NATURE,  MATERIAL,  AS  A  SCHOOL 

And  when  these  mounts,  like  mighty  sheets  above 

Some  slumbering  giant  soon  to  wake  and  walk. 

Fall  back  to  formlessness  from  whence  they  came, 

What  wisdom  shall  be  proved  the  choice  of  him 

Whose  eyes,  in  mercy  shielded  from  the  blaze 

On  which  the  soul  alone  can  look  and  live, 

Did  not  mistake  mere  grossness  in  the  form 

For  the  true  greatness  of  the  inward  force; 

Whose  mind  too  slightly  taught,  as  yet,  perhaps, 

To  read,  beneath  the  picture,  all  the  text. 

Has  yet  surmised  its  meaning  by  that  faith 

Which,  though  its  guide  be  instinct,  dares  to  think, 

And,  though  it  bow  to  greet  the  symbol,  yet 

Lets  not  its  magic  cast  a  spell  on  sense! 

To  him  the  world  seems  but  a  transient  school ; 

The  universe,  a  university; 

The  blue  that  homes  the  sunlight  and  the  stars, 

A  dome  above  a  vast  museum  built 

With  glens  for  alcoves,  plains  for  galleries, 

And  mounts  for  stairways,  where  he  works  and  waits 

Till  comes  the  day  he  takes  his  last  degree, 

And  then  goes  forth,  and  leaves  all  these  behind, 

Yet,  in  a  true  sense,  holds  them  his  forever. 

West  Mountain. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  269 

NATURE,  MATERIAL,  ITS  RELIGIOUS  INFLUENCE 

My  mind  was  turn'd  to  nature.     Where  but  there 
Could  earth-born  trouble  find  maternal  care? 
How  long'd  I  to  be  hidden  in  the  shade 
Which  the  thick  mantlings  of  her  forests  made, 
And  stay  there  undisturb'd  by  human  thought, 
Till  sweet  and  soothing  influences,  brought 
From  sources  far  removed  from  man's  control 
Should  cool  the  burning  fever  of  my  soul. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  I. 
Nature  is 
Transparent,  and  reveals  her  mysteries 
To  mortals  only  whose  own  sympathies 
Make  them  transparent,  opening  all  between 
Themselves  and  nature,  so  that  naught  can  screen 
Her  inmost  meaning  from  their  inmost  mind. 
Such  spirits  in  earth's  round  horizon  find 
A  glass  divine — like  that  called  Claude  Lorraine's — 
A  strange,  strong  lens  that  deep  within  contains 
Heaven's  forms  for  thought,  made  small  in  scope  to 

match 
Man's  comprehension.  Idem,  x. 

How  few  so  wise 
That  they  can  look  beneath  the  rustling  guise 
Of  Nature's  vestments,  and  perceive  below 
The  mind  informing  them,  that  makes  them  glow 
With  living  truth.     Alas,  how  many  souls, 
As  blind  to  all  that  might  be  seen  as  moles, 
Live,  merely  burrowing  in  earth's  dust  and  gloom 
To  make  their  whole  surroundings  but  a  tomb 
Wherein  dead  minds  may  lie.      And  yet  how  grand 
Might  Hfe  become,  could  all  but  understand 
The  thoughts  that  flow  with  brooks  in  every  glade, 
And  grow  to  strengthen  souls  with  ever  blade 
Of  verdure  in  the  spring-time !     Could  they  read 
And  know  and  use  earth  rightly,  then,  indeed, 
Might  heaven  too  open  above  them,  while  they  too 
Would  cry  like  Paul,  "What  wilt  Thou  have  me  do?" 

Idem. 

NERVES 

....  You  never  feel  your  soul  here  in  your  nerves? 
....  No,  no. 


270  A  POET'S  CABINET 

....  My  nerves  are  weaker,  then,  than  yours. 
....  Your  soul  may  then  be  stronger. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

NEW,  THE  (see  ADVANCE,  CHANGE,  and  PROGRESS) 

Ay,  let  the  dead  bury  their  dead,  and  pursue 
The  aims  of  a  people  that  push  for  the  new 
The  proudest  ambition,  the  readiest  hand, 
Might  wisely  embody  ideals  less  grand ; 

The  Artist's  Aim. 
Yet  ne'er  at  daybreak  had  begun 
One  ray  a  shining  course  to  run 
But  snakes  crawl 'd  out  to  hiss  the  sun; 
And  e'er,  if  truth  then  dawn'd  in  view, 
Would  tongues,  whose  fangs  in  fury  flew, 
Cry:  "Who  have  seen  the  like?    Have  you?" 
Ah  me!  and  what,  forsooth,  is  new 
And  strange  to  men's  experience, 
'T  would  libel  all  their  own  past  sense 
For  them  to  treat  with  reverence! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xviii. 

NEW  YORK  MANNERS 

....  It  seemed  to  me  that  she  was  quite  familiar 
with  you,  Roger. 

....  That  is  the  New  York  manner. 

....  Yes,  you  know,  the  roudy-gcnteel  manner  of 
New  York.  Our  students  have  it.  Faith — I  mean  our 
Sophomores. 

....  They  always  from  New  York? 

....  They  always  are — those  that  we  have  to 
question.     They  were  there  the  night  before. 

The  Two  Paths,  i. 

NEW  WORLD,  VISION  OF  THE 

Lo,  there  dawn'd  a  light  about  me  and  a  vision  in  my 

sleep 
Rose  above  the  midnight  vapors,  and  it  floated  o'er 

the  deep: 
In  a  shell  like  alabaster,  by  an  unseen  impulse  drawn, 
There  I  saw  three  forms  who  journey'd  softly  as  the 

light  of  dawn. 
Beautiful,  the  central  figure  stood  with  eyes  upon  the 

sky, 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  271 

As  if  fill'd  with  faith  that  surely  heaven  would  all  her 

need  supply. 
Just  above  her  unbound  ringlets  gleam'd  as  't  were  the 

morning  star; 
And  within  her  shining  breastplate  mirror'd  lands 

appear'd  afar. 
At  her  right  hand,  underneath  her,  crouch'd  the  aged 

limbs  of  War; 
Yet  he  fiercely  clutch'd  his  bow  as  when  in  youth  't  was 

battled  for. 
Though  his  eyes  were  glaring  backward,  and  seem'd 

anger'd  but  to  find 
That  the  storms  they  sought  had  linger'd  on  the  shore 

they  left  behind. 
At  her  right  hand,  peering  forward,  knelt  the  white- 
robed  form  of  Peace, 
As  a  prince  might  kneel  for  crowning,  or  a  serf  for  his 

release ; 
While  against  his  brow  his  palm  bent,  shielding  from 

the  light  the  glance 
Of  an  eye  whose  pleas  for  patience  were  but  prayers 

for  swift  advance. 
Thus  I  saw  the  forms,  when,  lo!  more  forms  before 

them  suddenly 
Sprang  from  sky  and  sea  like  hopes  along  a  path  of 

prophecy. 
*T  was  as  if  a  grander  people,  wash'd  of  prejudice  and 

pride. 
Passed  a  newer,  broader  Jordan,  rose  upon  a  grander 

side. 
'T  was  as  if  all  earth  had  caught  a  glory  flash'd  on 

mount  and  isle; 
'T  was  as  if  the  heaven  had  open'd,  where  all  nations 

throng'd  the  while, 
And  a  fresh  wind  rose  that  whisper'd:  "Where  shall 

man  to  man  be  true? — 
In  the  old  world  old  ways  triumph;  Freedom  hies  to 

seek  the  new." 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxii. 

NICHE,  FILLING   AN   EMPTY 

The  surest  place  of  refuge  for  one  out  of  place 
is  a  vacancy.     It  rids  him  of  the  trouble  of  upsett- 


272  A  POET'S  CABINET 

ing  the  plans  of  others,  in  order  to  set  up  his  own. 
No  need  of  fighting  for  an  empty  niche  when 
using  eyes  can  find  one. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  i. 

NIGHT 

Night,  too,  blesses  him  who  feels 
'T  is  a  star  in  which  he  kneels. 

Idem,   Dreaming,   xli. 
Above  vague  moon-lit  forms  of  mount  and  vale 

There  lies  the  haze-wrought  mantle  of  the  night. 
The  winds  are  hush'd;  the  clouds  are  still  and  pale; 
The  stars  like  drowsy  eyes  just  wink  their  light. 
Earth  sleeps,  except  where  on  the  seashore  white 
The  tumbled  waves  are  waked  by  distant  gales, 

Or  where  the  calls  of  owls  and  nighthawks  fright 
The  startled  slumberer  of  the  silent  dales 
With  sounds  they  never  make  till  night  their  plunder- 
ing veils.  Idem,  Daring,  i. 

NIGHT,   WHEN  ANTICIPATING  LOVE 

"Ah  me!"  I  sigh'd,  yet  strangely;  for  there  seem'd, 

While  all  the  way  the  twilight  thicker  sank, 

Sweet  silence  luring  dreamward  wind  and  bird 

Until  the  reverent  air  lay  hush'd  where  came 

The  hallowing  influence  of  holier  stars. 

And,  all  the  way,  deep  folding  round  my  soul, 

With  every  nerve  vibrating  at  its  touch, 

Fell  dim  delight,  through  which,  as  through  a  veil, 

Some  nearer  presence  breath'd  of  holier  life. 

Ah,  wandering  Heart,  and  had  I  had  my  day? — 

With  closing  gates  as  golden  as  yon  west? 

And  whither  was  I  moving  in  the  dark? — 

"Who  knows?"  my  spirit  ask'd,  "who  knows  or  cares? 

On  through  the  twilight  threshold,  trustingly ! 

What  hast  thou,  Night,  that  wear}^  souls  need  fear? 

Thou  home  of  love  entranced,  thou  haunt  of  dreams, 

Thy  halls  alone  can  hoard  the  truth  of  heaven! 

Thy  dome  alone  can  rise  to  reach  the  stars!" 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xiv. 

NIGHT,  WHEN  IN  TROUBLE 

What  comes  as  direful  as  the  direful  night 
A  spirit  spends  in  trouble? — fill'd  with  fears 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  273 

That  sleep  may  bring  distressful  nightmares  now; 
And  now,  that  morn  may  come  before  we  sleep ; 
Until,  betwixt  the  two,  distracted  quite, 
Awake  one  dreams,  and  dreaming  seems  awake, 
And  evermore  does  weep  at  what  he  dreams, 
And  then  does  weep  that  he  should  dream  no  more. 

Haydn,  xxxiii. 

NOBLE,  MAN 

....  How  noble  is  a  man  like  you 

....  A  pauper  and  fanatic 

....  No,  a  man 

Who,  all  alone,  can  stand  with  but  one  friend, 
His  own  brave  soul,  and  trample  underfoot 
A  hissing  world  that,  coiling  like  a  snake, 
Would  clutch  him  to  its  clod  and  hold  him  there. 

Columbus,  I.,  2. 

NOON 

When,  at  noon, 

The  trees  drew  in  their  shade,  as  birds  their  wings. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xxviii. 

NOTORIETY 

What  he 
Cares  for  is  notoriety,  which  means 
The  bulge  of  contrast.     Crush  and  hush  your  kind, 
And  you  yourself  are  seen  and  heard. 

Columbus,  III.,  2. 

NURSE,    THE   WOMAN   IN  THE   HOSPITAL 

Let  them  find 
Large,  sunny,  healthful  halls;  and  dwell  therein: 
From  thence  deal  forth  that  gentle  charity 
So  potent  coming  from  a  woman's  hand. 
Not  strange  it  were  if  sickness,  tended  thus, 
Enliven'd  by  her  smiles  of  light,  should  flush 
Or  blush  to  perfect  health !  if  wickedness. 
Beneath  incrusted  woes  of  years  of  wrong. 
Should  feel  the  earlier  faith  of  childhood  waked 
By  woman's  voice,  and  thus  be  born  again! — 
And  find  a  life  renew'd  within  the  soul 
As  well  as  body.  Haydn,  XLI. 

OBSCURE    SOURCE   OF   WISDOM 

It  came  from  an  obscure  source.     Anything  very 
18 


274  ^  POETS  CABINET 

sensible  usually  does.     The  recoo;nized  rulers  of  the 
world,  like  the  devil  whom  the  scriptures  declare  to  be 
the  prince  of  it,  generally  have  more  will  than  wisdom. 
Fundamentals  of  Education. 

OBSCURITY  IN  POSITION 

Full  many  a  blaze-mailed  knight  men's  cheers  allure 
To  wrong  by  which  mere  groundling-praise  is  won; 
While  serfs,   though  soil-stained,   keep  life's  record 

pure 
Because  their  dust-hid  deeds  are  wrought  for  none 
Save  One  for  whom  no  life  is  too  obscure 
To  show  the  spirit  in  which  work  is  done. 

Obscurity. 

OBSCURITY,  SAVING  FROM  TROUBLE 

My  mail  has  not  been  gilded  yet  enough  to  make 
myself  a  mark  for  blackmail,  has  it?  Heaven  never 
helps  us  more  than  when  it  sends  us  obscurity.  This 
lets  us  work  our  work  just  as  our  spirits  wish,  with 
none  to  curse  us  or  cheer  us  falsely. 

The  Two  Paths,  ill. 
ODD  {see  eccentric) 

I  knew  a  family 
Where  all  the  children  grew  so  very  odd, — 
Like  fruit  when  tough  to  touch  and  sour  to  taste. 
Not  ripe  nor  mellow.     Too  much  spring  had  they, 
And  not  enough  of  summer  in  their  home. 

Haydn,  xxiv, 

OFFICIAL,  THE 

In  Church  or  State,  the  official  seems  the  same, — 
A  fist  in  front  with  which  to  threaten  one ; 
A  palm  behind  to  beg  him  for  a  bribe. 

Dante,  ii.,  2. 

OLD   HEADS 

When  young,  I,  too,  saw  heights  I  thought  sublime; 
And  tried  to  drive  toward  them  some  older  folk; 

But,  boy,  't  is  only  young  blood  cares  to  climb. 
Try  it:  you  cannot  drive,  and  may  provoke 
Old  heads,  too  long  ago  grown  steady  to  life's  yoke. 
A  Life  in  Song,  Daring,  xxv. 

OLD    MASTERS 

I  will  not  think  with  those  who  would  let  none 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  275 

But  some  "old  master"  dictate  my  new  deed, 
As  if  a  plan  to  fit  the  future's  need 
Could  all  be  fashioned  on  what  once  was  done! 

The  Final  Verdict. 

OLD  PEOPLE,  WHY  UNINTERESTING 

We  two  are  old;  we  should  remember  that.  The 
thing  that  makes  most  people  take  an  interest  in  us  is 
watching  how  we  grow;  and  when  we  cease  to  grow,  of 
course  they  lose  their  interest.  The  lisping  tongue, 
the  tottering  gait  of  childhood,  are  charming,  yes;  but 
not  in  second  childhood.  There  once  were  times  that, 
when  I  walked  the  street,  the  boys  and  girls  and  all 
would  look  at  me.  Those  times  have  passed.  To-day 
they  look  away,  if  there  be  younger  people  near  me. 
Why?  In  me  they  face  no  hope.  I  soon  shall  die. 
I  can  remember  well  the  earliest  time  I  found  our 
daughter  drawing  listeners  away  from  me  myself. 
The  thing  she  said  was  far  from  wise.  What  of  it? 
Those  we  meet  care  less  for  sense  in  us  than  sympathy ; 
and  when  wc  turn  down  hill  toward  waiting  graves, 
what  hope  of  fellow-feeling  from  the  young? 

On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

OLD,  THE,  NEVER  RETURNS 

....  I  like  to  get  back  where  I  have  been. 
....  You  never  can  get  back  there,  the  world 
keeps  whirling  around,  and  grinding  out  something 
new.  The  Ranch  Girl,  iv. 

ONWARD  {see  progress) 
Why  should  mortals  be  becalm'd  amid  the  earthly 

darkness  here. 
While  the  lights  from  countless  havens  throng  the 

heavens  far  and  near! 
Surely  sails,  wide  spread  to  woo  them,  heaven's  fair 

winds  cannot  forsake: 
That  which  moves  to  right  moves  onward,  tho'  but 
slowly  grows  its  wake. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  vii. 

OPPORTUNITY 

She  left ;  and  I  who  wander,  fear 
There  comes  no  more  to  see  or  hear; 
Those  walls  that  ward  my  paradise 


276  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Are  very  high,  nor  open  twice. 

And  I,  who  had  my  own  design 

For  destiny  that  should  be  mine, 

Can  only  wait  without  the  gate 

And  sit  and  sigh — "Too  late!  too  late!" 

The  Destiyiy- Maker. 
Life  brings  day  as  well  as  night, 
When  day,  the  wise  will  use  the  sunshine. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

OPPORTUNITY,  USE  AND  ABUSE  OF 

The  same  sunshine   that  ripens   one   plant,   rots 
another.  The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  iv. 

OPPOSITION,  REQUIRED  AT  TIMES 

Parents  gone  insane, 
Or  but  awry,  are  saved  by  opposition. 
Love  uniformed  and  forced  in  hatred's  pressgang 
Is  only  served  by  those  who  w^ar  against  it. 

Dante,  ii.,  2. 

ORDAINING 

There  may  be  some  ordaining  grace 

That  priest  and  prince  of  every  race 

Have  sought  through  mystic  lines  to  trace; — 

A  something  back  of  sword  and  gown, 

Power  apostolic,  handed  down: 

There  are  no  wise  men  to  the  clown: 

The  royal  mind  in  tent  or  town 

To  loyal  genius  owes  its  crown. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  ill. 

ORIGINALITY  VS.  IMITATION 

You  write  as  one  who  rests  in  a  ravine 
Recording  but  what  others  have  beheld 
Above  where  he  dare  venture. 

....  You  would  have  me? — 

.  .  .  .  Climb  up,  or  soar — 
.  .  .  .  But  how? — 

.  .  .  .  The  spirit's  wings 

Are  grown,  not  given,  unfold  within  oneself. 
But  you — you  get  both  word  and  thought  from  others. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

OTHERS 

Who,  who  that  once  brute-force  enthrone 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  277 

O'er  others'  rights  can  save  their  own? 

After  the  Lynching. 

OTHERS,  A   PART  OF  SELF 

....  Do  I  owe  you  because  you  worked  for  others? 

....  Humph!  \Vhat  are  others  but  a  part  of 
you? — This  house  and  all  it  holds — the  roads,  the 
farms,  the  flocks,  the  cattle — all  that  feed  and  clothe 
you,  the  schools,  the  government,  and  everything  that 
makes  you  what  you  are,  are  part  of  you;  and  if  I 
worked  for  them,  I  worked  for  you. 

On  Detective  Duty,  11. 

OURSELVES 

What  fools  we  are  when  we  would  read  ourselves. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 
The  sun  gives  everything  its  light; 

The  mind  gives  everything  its  thought ; 
And  what  we  deem  is  dark  or  bright. 

Reflects  but  what  ourselves  have  brought. 
The  Little  Tivin  Tramps,  11. 

OUTSIDE  VS.  INSIDE  (seC  BUBBLES) 

Not  outside  things  that  men  can  take  away 
Bring  ruin,  but  the  things  that  stay  within, 
Which  would  they  could  take! 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 

OUTWITTING  THOSE  OUTWITTING  US 

A  man  like  him,  who  earns  his  living  by  outwitting 
others,  will  not  be  keen  to  leb  the  whole  world  know 
that  he  himself  has  been  outwitted;  see? 

On  Detective  Duty,  in. 

OVERBEARING 

Your  overbearing  shows  us 
Your  underbred  ideal. 

To  the  Wife  of  a  Public  Man. 

OVERFLOW  IN  NATURE  AND  MIND  {see  EXCESS) 

In  every  sphere,  beyond  what  merely  meets 

The  first  demand  of  need,  there  issues  forth 

A  constant  overflow.     'T  is  this  that  brings 

More  sunlight  than  the  eye  of  toil  exhausts, 

More  summer  rain  than  clears  and  cools  the  air 

Where  smoke  and  flame  the  world's  too  heated  axles. 

'T  is  this  regales  the  hunger  of  fatigue 


278  A  POET'S  CABINET 

By  foretastes  of  refreshment  never  failing, 

And  shows,  beyond  the  prisons  of  this  earth, 

Through  opening  gates,  the  free  expanse  of  heaven. 

Without  this  overflow,  no  wish  could  play. 

No  thought  could  dream,  no  fancy  slip  the  links 

Of  logic,  and  wing  off  with  childlike  faith 

And  poise  o'er  mysteries  too  deep  for  sight. 

Without  it,  not  one  poet  would  repeat 

His  empty  echoes  of  life's  humdrum  work, 

His  rhythmic  laughter  of  disburdened  thought. 

Without  it,  not  one  artist  would  essay 

To  mimic  Nature  when  it  molds  to  gems 

Its  melting  worthlessness,  or,  like  a  wizard, 

Waves  with  its  wand  to  welcome  bubbling  froth 

And  turn  to  amber  that  which  aimed  for  air. 

Without  it,  ah,  without  it,  there  would  be 

No  life  of  life  more  grand  by  far  than  all 

That  worlds  can  outline  or  that  minds  conceive, — 

No  wings  to  lift  aloft  our  thrilling  souls 

And  bear  them  on,  unconscious  how  or  why. 

Far  past  all  limits  of  all  earth-moved  thought 

Until,  at  last,  they  seem  to  reach  the  verge 

Of  heaven's  infinity.  Berlin  Mountain. 

OWN,  one's 
The  things  that  are  seen  may  all  be  white. 
One's  own  is  the  sugar;  the  others'  are  salt. 

Love  atid  Life,  xxxii. 

PAIN 

Though,  perchance,  it  seem 
Too  old  a  story,  weigh  it  yet,  until 
You  think,  once  more,  what  men,  whom  all  esteem, 

The  same  old  story  in  their  lives  fulfil. 
We  know  them  now;  but  ah,  there  is  no  knowing 

The  pain  that  gave  their  souls  their  second  birth. 
When  fetters  of  the  flesh  fell  deathward,  showing 
That  love  for  all  one's  kind  which  makes  a  heaven  of 
earth.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xc. 

PAINT   ON   THE   FACE 

....  Strange  that   a  sensible  woman  shouldn't 
recognize  that  anyone  can  see  through  paint. 

....  You  mean  can  wo/ see  through  it.    That 's  the 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  279 

trouble.  It  makes  everybody  wonder  what  there  is 
there  which  might  be  seen,  but  is  not,  because  it  needs 
to  be  covered  up.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

PALACES  THAT  ARE  PRISONS 

You  sometimes  build  a  prison  when  you  think  it  is  a 
palace.  Some  men,  who  start  by  gilding  what  they 
live  in,  keep  scrubbing  all  their  days  to  keep  it  bright. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

PALMISTRY,    ITS    PSYCHIC  CLAIMS 

Your  future  is  the  fruit  of  present  dreams, 

The  lure  that  leads  the  deepest  wish  within  you; 

The  goal  that  lights  the  furthest  path  of  hope. 

A  touch  that  feels  the  start  can  point  the  finish. 

....  You  think  so? 

....  There  is  nothing  stops  the  flow 

Of  thought  betwixt  my  fingers  and  my  brain. 

Betwixt  your  fingers  and  your  brain;  not  so? — 

Now  join  these — what  cuts  off  your  brain  from  mine? 

....  Our  wills. 

....  Yet  if  I  yield  my  will  to  yours 

....  But  can  you? 

....  And  if  not,  what  boots  the  priest 

His  years  of  fasting  and  of  discipline? 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

PANTHEISTIC    VIEW    OF    LIFE 

You  call  them  beautiful?     When  you  have  seen 
As  much  of  men  as  I,  you  will  think  more 
Of  greater  spirits  with  their  lives  enshrined 
In  mountain,  valley,  forest,  bush,  and  flower 
Than  of  these  little  spirits  framed  in  flesh. 

Idem. 

PARASITES 

A  rich  man  is  like  a  tree  in  a  southern  climate — in 
danger  of  being  overclimbed  and  over-reached,  as 
people  say,  by  parasites. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  in. 
PARENT  {see  FATHER  and  mother) 
Behold  in  the  parent  the  world's  first  priest. 
To  tender,  till  childhood's  wants  have  ceast, 

The  flickering  fires 
That  fall  and  rise  in  rash  desires ; 


280  A  POETS  CABINET 

To  soothe  and  assuage, 
In  a  body  that  thirsts  and  soul  that  aspires, 
The  wishes  of  youth  with  the  wisdom  of  age; 
To  kneel  or  to  stand 
With  a  mission  more  grand 
Than  any  but  His  whose  touch  divine 
First  lit  the  flame  on  the  human  shrine, 
Then  left  it  alone  where  all  men  try 
To  fan  its  burning  or  find  it  die. 

Love  and  Life,  XLii. 
PARENTS  {see  children) 
What  tho'  the  years  that  come  with  drought  and  frost 

May  bring  disaster  and  may  leave  distress? 
The  parents'  faith  can  look  past  harvests  lost 
To  where  the  future  shall  the  harm  redress. 
Their  offspring  whom  their  love  is  fondly  training, 

Show  beauty  in  the  bud,  and  promise  more: 
And  if  one  season  blast  its  best  attaining, 

Oh,  has  not  early  life  long  years  of  growth  in  store! 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xvii. 
parents'  laws  vs.  god's 
....  But  how  about  the  honor  due  to  parents? 
....  The  only  parent  of  the  soul  is  God;  and  when 
our  language  fails  to  speak  its  prompting,  think  what 
dishonor  we  have  done  to  Him? 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  I. 
parliament  of  man 
The  largest  hope  since  time  began, 
For  which  the  whole  world  waits, 
Is  that  for  which  our  statesmen  plan, — 
The  coming  Parliament  of  Man, 
The  world's  United  States. 

God  Bless  America. 

PARROTS 

The  phrases  parrots  quote  are  those  that  charm  them. 

On  Detective  Duty,  iii. 

PARTING 

Till  out  of  her  lips  a  parting  came 

Where  I  waited  a  welcoming  word. 
She  could  not  have  meant  to  make  me  sadder, 
But  long,  long  after  good-bye  I  bade  her, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  281 

Behind  me  would  flow 

Like  a  note  of  woe 
That  parting  word,  as  if  what  she  had  said 
Were  a  wail  of  the  wind  in  a  night  with  the  dead. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxiii. 

PARTNER    FOR    LIFE    {see   WEDDED) 

I,  all  my  life, 
Have  served  a  spirit  larger  than  myself. 
These  limbs  but  fit  it  on  a  single  side. 
Their  utmost  only  half  what  it  would  have. 
And  now,  athrill  with  spirit-arms  that  stretch 
Up  toward  the  heavens  and  onward  toward  heaven's 

love. 
My  balanced  being  had  embraced  in  you 
That  other  side.     We  are  not  two,  but  one. 
And — think — to  part  two  factors  of  one  life 
Is  murder — not  of  body  but  of  spirit. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 
PARTS  vs.  WHOLE  {see  suggestions) 
And  then,  how  would  I  tear  her  traits  apart; 
And  pluck  the  petals  from  each  budding  grace 
And  hope  its  naked  stem  some  trace  would  show, 
Too  void  of  beauty,  to  suggest  again 
The  bloom  and  sweetness  of  the  life  I  loved. 
Alas,  but  while  I  wrought  for  this  alone, 
How  would  her  virtues  but  the  more  unfold! — 
Like  God's  own  glory  flowering  in  the  skies, 
That  those  detect  who  would  not  find  it  there, 
But,  when  they  test  the  stars,  have  dealt  with  light. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  XLil. 
PASSION  {see  anger,  lust,  and  impetuous) 

You  and  I  and  all, 
If  passion  suddenly  o'erflood  our  will. 
Should  just  as  quickly  our  quick  words  recall. 
Thus  love  may  seem  our  life's  controller  still. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  Lxxii. 

PAST,  OUR,  as  influencing  OUR  FUTURE 

Ah,  if  the  past  must  always  cope 
With  future  joys  for  which  we  hope, 
How  vain  the  aims  that  make  their  quest 
A  life  that  merely  shall  be  blest, 


282  A  POET'S  CABINET 

And  slight  earth's  meed  of  lowly  sweets 
For  purple  heights  and  golden  streets! 
Faith  fails  that  merely  waits  below. 
Dreams  after  death  would  bring  but  woe 
Without  remember'd  love  that  blest 
The  soul  before  it  found  its  rest. 

My  Dream  at  Cordova. 

PATHOS  (see  MUSIC  EXPRESSING  GRIEF) 
PATHS 

I  may  not  fit 
The  world  I  live  in.     Did  the  Christ  fit  his? 
Could  any  man  walk  straight  in  paths  of  earth, 
Nor  trespass  on  some  crooked  paths  of  others? 

Dante,  ill.,  I. 

PATIENT 

And  you,  my  brother?     Such  a  patient  man? 
....  Oh,  patient!    When  a  fire  has  been  kept  in 
For  eighteen  years,  blame  not  its  blazing  out, 
Thank  God  it  did  not  wholly  blast  the  fool 
Whose  fumbling  fouled  it — thought  it  had  no  life. 
The  villain !  if  I  only  could  be  sure 
He  would  be  better  for  the  punishment ! 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 
PATRIOT  (see  progress) 

The  earth's  Creator  made  this  earth  for  man, 
And  promised  heaven  to  those  who  used  it  right; 

And  heirs  of  heaven  should  follow  none  whose  ban 
Prevents  their  moving  onward  toward  the  light. 

Wh}''  serve  a  king  preventing  this?  or  nation? 
The  patriot's  home  is  where  his  duties  be. 

Why  serve  a  church? — God's  promise  of  salvation 
Is  not  of  peace  on  earth  through  fear  of  priests  men 
see.  A  Life  in  So7ig:  Serving,  LI. 

PEDANTRY,    ARTISTIC 

Increased  intelligence  tends  to  increase  not  only 
intellectual  activity  but  also  pedantry.  The  artistic 
expression  of  pedantry  is  imitation. 

Art  in  Theory,  in. 

PENETRATION  OF  A  WOMAN 

Unfortunate  man!  he  had  forgotten  that  he  had 
been  dealing  with  the  members  of  a  sex  whose  penetra- 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  283 

tion  is  so  keen  as  to  require  alone  the  glancing  of  an 
e3''e  or  the  waving  of  a  finger  in  order  to  detect  the 
inmost  secret  of  the  most  secretive  soul ;  from  whom  the 
springs  of  speech  may  burst  and  flow  unceasingly  in 
answer  to  a  gesture  slight  as  that  which,  of  old,  nerved 
the  arm  of  Moses  at  Massah. 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  x. 

PENETRATION  THROUGH  SENSIBILITY 

There  are  souls  on  earth 
With  senses  all  so  fine  and  penetrant 
That  no  thoughts  in  a  kindred  soul  can  lie 
So  deeply  hidden  that  they  stand  not  naked. 

Dante,  11.,  i. 

PENS  AND  SCRIBBLERS 

Is  a  goose,  like  all  those  literary  cacklers.  But  he 
can  be  plucked;  and  a  goose's  quill  {taking  a  pen  from 
table  at  left  of  mantel)  may  make  a  useful  pen.  Only 
have  pejts  enough  in  this  world,  and  you  can  take  in  all 
the  sheep-heads.  If  one  doesn't  belong  to  them  asses 
who  are  taken  in  by  the  Morning  Journal,  he  belongs 
to  them  Astors  who  are  taken  in  by  the  Evening  Post. 
The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i. 

PEOPLE   GUARDED    BEST    BY   PEACE 

In  kingdoms  men  may  fight  to  guard  the  king;  in 
states  like  ours  they  fight  to  guard  the  people.  He 
guards  them  best  who  best  wards  off  all  fighting. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition^  11. 

PEOPLING,  BY  THE  VICIOUS 

....  This  land  needs  peopling. 

....  And  will  need  it  more, 

If  Spain  send  more  of  those  vile  wretches  here. 

We  all  may  be  killed  off. 

.  .  .  .  And  rightly  so. 

....  Had  I  my  way,  a  brute  forever  kicking 

Against  the  law  should  go  in  bit  and  bridle; 

Ay,  ay,  to  see  a  surgeon  too.     A  touch 

Of  horse-play — there  were  cuttings  that  would  cure  him 

And  all  his  kind.     The  best  should  let  their  land 

Be  peopled  only  by  the  best.  Columbus,  v.,  i. 

PERQUISITES 

....  What  perquisites? 


284  A  POET'S  CABINET 

....  The  kind  that  make  us  call 

A  public  man  "His  Honor,"  lest  the  world 
Might  fail  to  recognize  it,  if  not  labeled. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

PERSEVERANCE 

The  deed  that  best 
Proves  each  man's  workmanship  is  what  he  is. 
If  God  be  the  eternal,  he  who  shows 
Eternal  perseverance  falls  not  far 
From  fellow-craft  with  Him.       Columbus,  ii.,  i. 

PERSEVERANCE,  LACK  OF 

The  hand  that  drops  the  hoe,  when  one  has  merely 
dropped  the  seed,  may  reap  no  harvest. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

PETS,  WOMEN  AS  MEN's 

....  The  world  has  grown,  and  women  with  it. 

....  Let  them — unless  they  grow  away  from  their 
own  nature;  or,  say,  from  ours. 

....  A  shame  to  have  them  grow!  A  woman 
wants  a  pet.  She  gets  a  child.  A  man  has  like  wants, 
and  he  gets  a  wife;  and  pets,  if  wives  or  children,  show 
no  sense  to  keep  on  growing,  if  they  can  avoid  it. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

PETULANCE 

What? — you  call  him  great? — 

Mere  bluffer  of  some  baby  brawls  in  Florence? 

The  flimsiest  nerve  can  fret  to  feel  a  flea. 

Dante,  I.,  i. 

PHILOSOPHY 

Now  shall  those  of  all  opinions  all  each  other's  truth 

descry, 
While  philosophy  supported  by  what  all  who  think 

supply,— 
Pillars  this,  and  pillars  that  side,  grounded  well,  and 

high  and  wide, — 
Shall  a  grander  temple  rear  than  all  man's  art  could 

e'er  provide. 
Where  the  saint  and  sage  together  at  the  shrine  of 

faith  shall  bend. 
And  the  love  that  lights  their  life  to  all  the  ends  of 

earth  extend.     A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xviii.  ' 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  285 

Of  late,  when  I  am  all  alone, 

I  try  to  make  the  tests  my  own 

That  wise  Philosophy  has  known. 

My  questioning  thought  to  satisfy, 

With  eager  soul  but  patient  eye, 

I  search  in  every  moving  thing, 

To  find,  at  last,  its  hidden  spring. 

I  fancy  it  is  fire  or  air 

Or  mind  itself  so  conjuring  there. 

I  press  against  the  window  pane. 

Ask — feels  my  nerve?  or  feels  my  brain? 

What  is  it  joins  my  sense  and  soul? 

Is  it  the  Absolute's  control? 

Or  is  it  faith?  or  is  it  aught 

Beyond  the  ebb  and  flow  of  thought? 

Am  I,  who  muse  thus,  made  to  be — 

Responsible  in  no  degree 

The  vagrant  wave  of  some  vast  sea? 

Or  am  I  more  than  most  men  deem, — 

Are  forms  that  round  about  me  gleam, 

Things  not  substantial  as  they  seem. 

But  only  phantoms  of  a  dream? 

If  so,  if  not,  can  men,  forsooth, 

With  all  their  searching,  find  the  truth? 

Or  do  their  eyes,  approaching  near 

The  grandeur  sought,  with  vision  blear 

See  all  things  falsely  looming  here? — 

Then  flashes  right,  as  lightnings  glance? 

Or  dawns  it  o'er  some  dozing  trance? 

Shall  one  know  more  when  earth  is  done? 

Reach  misery?  or  oblivion? 

Or  through  some  mystic,  spiral  way 

A  Babel  mount,  and  there  survey 

An  earth  become  a  heaven  for  aye? 

Idem,  Doubting,  xxxiv. 
PHRASES  {see  words) 
Can  human  phases  fully  satisfy 
Divine  requirements?     Let  men  only  sigh 
For  God  as  Father  in  the  home  above. 
Or  as  the  earthly  Son  whose  life  was  love. 
Or  as  the  Spirit  sent  to  woo  the  soul; 
Still  may  the  truth,  though  not  all  known,  control, 


286  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Howe'er  their  lips  may  limit  and  confine  it, 
Their  whole  lives,  while  they  struggle  to  divine  it. 

Idem,  Seeking,  Liy. 

PHYSICAL  {see  BODIES,  FLESH,  FRAME) 
PHYSICAL   CHARM    OF   SLEEPING   WARRIORS 

How  beautiful !    What  flowers 
To  bloom  amid  the  desert  of  the  storm! 
What  glow  of  vigor  in  their  fair,  round  limbs, 
Ay,  how  their  colors  warm  this  cold-hued  air! — 
Can  they  be  wounded? — dead? — Oh,  cruel  man. 
When  spirits  of  the  sunlight  guise  in  flesh 
And  fringe  the  halo  of  the  sunshine  round  them, 
Have  we  so  much  to  cheer  us  on  the  earth, 
We  can  afford  destruction  to  the  frames 
That  form  fit  settings  of  a  light  so  dear? 

The  Aztec  God,  I. 

PHYSICAL  vs.  MENTAL  PROWESS 

Praise  not  the  spears  that  split  the  foeman's  mail, 
But  praise  the  brain  whence  came  the  skill  that  aimed 
them.  Dante,  i.,  2. 

PHYSICIAN 

Beside  him  sat  another,  all  whose  face 

Bore  marks  of  patience,  train' d  by  years  of  care. 

His  glasses,  lifted  oft  with  easy  grace. 

Great  coat,  large  pockets,  and  abundant  hair 
Marked  him — "physician,"  one  whose  calm,  wise 
air 

Can  bid  the  raging  fever  sink  to  rest ; 

And  turn  to  smiles  his  patients'  weary  stare, 

While  children  wonder  at  his  bottle-chest. 

And  how  a  still  pulse  tells  him  just  what  pill  is  best. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xxxii. 

PICTURE  GALLERY 

All  the  halls  had  pictured  walls,  of  brightest  hues 

which,  far  away, 
Stream'd  like  oriflammes  of  dawn  before  a  march  of 

coming  day.  Idem,  Dreaming,  xxxii. 

PIETY 

•  Your  tastes  are  not  religious? — Mine  are  not, 
If  by  religion  you  mean  piety, — 
Religion's  brew,  froth'd  bubbling  to  be  seen. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  287 

But  how  is  it  beneath  the  surface? 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxvii. 

PIGMIES 

Pigmies,  did  one  plod  with  them,  might  give 
A  little  common  man  a  chance  of  greatness. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

PILGRIM 

Once  I  saw  a  pilgrim,  treading  o'er  a  thorny  desert 

wide; 
And  I  saw  his  face  grow  brighter,  as  he  dash'd  his  tears 

aside. 
On  and  on,  though  stumbling  often,  with  a  gaze  intent 

he  sped. 
While  behind  his  path  grew  plainer  from  the  blood  his 

wounds  had  shed. 
Then  he  fell,  and  sweetly  fainting  said  he  now  no  more 

would  roam; 
And  with  smiles  had  left  his  body,  sure  the  soul  would 

journey  home. 
Ah,  I  felt  a  joy  so  cloudless  must  forebode  a  coming 

day. 
At  whose  break  like  morning  vapors  all  the  shades  of 

life  give  way. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxviii. 

PIONEER  IN  THOUGHT 

He  push'd  for  the  light ;  and  grew  old  and  hoar 
Ere  one  whom  he  knew  had  begun  to  explore, 
Or  seek  what  he  sought.    Alone  in  the  van. 
He  had  fail'd  of  aid  had  he  thought  it  in  man. 
Unveiling  the  Monument. 

PISA,  ITALY 

We  took  the  train  at  Florence,  we, — 

The  day  was  warm  and  pleasant. 
The  town  of  Pisa  would  we  see. 

No  time  was  like  the  present. 
Anon  we  climb 'd  the  Leaning  Tower, 
Dropt  something  down,  and  sat  an  hour; 
And  then  the  grand  Baptistry  door 
They  swung  for  us;  and,  o'er  and  o'er, 
We  made  its  domed  rotunda  roar, 

To  echo  back  our  joking. 


58  A  POETS  CABINET 

We  set  our  pockets  jingling,  we, 

To  make  our  guide  a  crony, 
Saw  the  cathedral,  paid  a  fee, 

And  ate  some  macaroni, 
Then  feasted  on  an  outside  view 
Of  all  three  buildings,  yet  so  new; 
Then  bought,  in  alabaster  wrought, 
Some  models  of  them;  then  we  sought 
The  Campo  Santo,  where  we  thought 

About  the  dead,  while  smoking. 

We  took  the  train  at  sunset,  we, 

And  while  we  left  the  station, 
Extoll'd  the  land,  "How  much  to  see! 

How  grand  this  Roman  nation! 
Our  own,  how  mean! — no  works  of  art!" 
We  strove  to  sigh,  but  check'd  a  start 
And  cried,  "How  home-like!"  o'er  and  o'er. — 
What  thrill'd  us  thus? — alas,  it  bore 
No  hint  from  art;  we  heard  once  more 

A  frog,  near  by  us,  croaking. 

Our  Day  in  Pisa. 

PITY  AND  LOVE 

Pity  is  but  a  sadder  kind  of  love — 

....  No  love  at  all.     But  as  a  motive  to  it — 

A  door  to  open, — why  complain,  of  it, 

If  only  opening  w^here  we  wish  to  go? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 

PLAINS  vs.  MOUNTAINS 

Oh,  some  may  praise  the  plain!     It  has  its  use 
For  plow  and  reaper,  railway  and  canal; 
But  all  that  human  hand  could  ever  plant 
Or  thought  invent,  or  energy  transport 
Could  never,  through  long  ages,  bring  together 
What  here  were  gathered  in  a  few  short  hours, — 
A  wealth  of  mound  and  meadow  to  suffice 
For  many  a  county,  all  rolled  up  in  one, 
A  hundred  miles  of  surface  in  a  score, 
A  score  of  climates  in  a  single  mile, 
And  all  the  treasury  of  plant  or  soil 
From  half  a  continent  arrayed  against 
The  slopes  that  flanlv  a  solitary  valley. 


I 


I  mean,"  I  breathed  out  cautiously,  "  to  write 
A  tale  of  love;  and  I  have  planned  the  tale 
To  open  here." 

See  page  309. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  289 

Who  says  there  are  no  wiser  views  of  life 
Where  every  view  displays  a  wider  range? 
More  blest  a  decade  spent  in  scenes  like  this 
Than  ages  in  some  never-ending  plain. 

Greylock. 

PLANS  vs.  PERSONALITY 

I  plead,  too,  for  myself; 
And  tell  my  plans  that  you  may  know  myself; 
Not  holding  that  I  stand  above  you,  friend. 
Nay,  nay;  I  oft  feel  worthy  scarce  to  touch 
Your  fingers'  tips,  or  stand  erect  and  taint 
The  level  of  the  air  you  breathe  in;  nay, 
I  would  not  judge  your  life;  would  only  crave, 
When  we  have  so  much  else  in  sympathy, 
That  holy  state  where  two  souls,  else  at  one. 
Would  both  be  God's. — Ah,  could  you  thus  be  mine? 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxvi. 

PLAY,  THE,  OF  LIFE 

The  forms  we  see  are  puppets  of  a  play, 

A  dull  play  too !     Though  seek  what  pulls  the  string, 

No  longer  is  it  dull.     A  button  breaks, 

A  veil  falls  off 

.  .  .  .  Too  bad  to  hope  for  that! 

....  Too  bad,  if  lives  be  bad!     If  not,  too  good! 
Some  things  that  on  the  outside  seem  profane, 
Upon  the  inside  may  be  sacred.      Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

All  should  watch  the  play,  and  not  forget 
That  they  themselves  are  part  of  it.       Idem. 

PLAY,  OF  THOUGHT 

Our  thoughts  are  children  that  must  play  to  grow. 

Dante,  i.,  I. 
PLAY  vs.  PAY 
Oh,  happy  days  of  youth!  when  empty  sport 
Of  mere  imagination — fancied  game — 
Could  fill  the  hunter's  pouch  to  overflowing! 
Ay,  how  much  better  than  the  days  of  age — 
Alas,  I  fear  it,  too,  of  modern  youth 
For  whom,  so  rich  in  matter,  poor  in  mind, 
We  manufacture  implements  of  play 
That  clip  at  fancies  till  they  all  fit  facts. 
Plane  joys  to  toys,  and  level  games  to  gain, 
19 


290  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Till  every  pleasure  palls  that  fails  to  pay 

In  scales  that  rate  life's  worth  by  what  it  weighs 

When  all  the  spirit's  buoyancy  is  lost. 

West  Mountain, 

PLAYS  AND  PLAYERS 

My  tales,  pour'd  forth  to  voice  my  loneliness 

In  echoing  talk  and  song,  were  framed  in  plays, 

And  then  were  phrased  in  music;  and,  in  time, 

Arose  like  sighings  of  a  human  wind 

Above  a  human  sea,  while,  all  about. 

There  swept,  like  surgings  of  a  rhythmic  surf, 

The  shifting  scenes  and  singers  of  the  stage. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LXVI. 

PLAYS,  THEIR  EFFECT  ON  IMAGINATION 

Our  thoughts  are  roused  far  less  by  what  we  know 
than  what  we  fail  to  know;  and  once  aroused,  they  are 
kinetoscopic.  The  pictures  in  the  play  are  played 
again,  a  thousand  times  within  imagination  till  all  one's 
world  of  action,  like  a  film,  fills  with  the  impress  of  the 
inward  image.  Humph!  nature's  life  repeats  the 
thoughts  of  God  no  more  than  human  life  the  thoughts 
of  man.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

PLAYTHING,  NOT  A  THING  TO  WORK 

Most  girls  about  here  are  American. 

What  difference  does  that  make? 

They  have  learned  to  look  out  for  themselves. 

Afraid  to  work  here? 

Not  for  themselves,  but  for  their  reputation. 
You  know  that  sports  and  playthings  go  together. 
Our  men  are  mostly  sports.  Few  families  want  a 
plaything  when  they  want  a  thing  to  work. 

On  Detective  Duty,  li. 

PLAYTHINGS,  PEOPLE  USED  AS 

The  women  in  her  set  are  just  as  bad  as  the  men. 
For  them  all  the  world  is  a  playground  and  all  the  men 
and  women  in  it  only  playthings.  One  fact  that  they 
think  they  know  with  certainty  is  this — that  the  more 
poor  girls  they  can  get  a  son  of  theirs  to  fall  in  love 
with,  the  more  likely  they  are  to  get  him  to  marry  a 
rich  girl  that  he's  not  in  love  with. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  iii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  291 

PLEAS 

From  such  lips  pleas, 
Like  fragrance  from  the  flowers  upon  a  shrine, 
Might  bring  an  answer.    I  will  trust  in  you. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

PLEASURE  OF  THE  VEINS 

....  To  think 

That  all  this  glowing  blood  within  these  veins 
Should  be  spilled  out,  before  my  soul  has  drunk 
The  pleasure  that  is  in  them. 
....  When  thus  drunk, 

The  veins  will  be  exhausted,  have  no  stock 
To  treat  the  sense  with  longer;  and  the  soul, 
Intoxicated  with  the  joys  of  earth, 
Will  be  too  heavy  weighed  to  rise  above  them. 

Idem,  IV.,  I. 

POEMS 

True  poems  hold  the  truth  as  gems  the  light, 
When  rightly  polished  drawing  to  their  depth 
All  that  is  luminous  in  earth  or  heaven; 
And  thence  reflect  it  not  alone  but  flash  it ; 
And  not  till  all  light  go,  can  lose  their  brilliance. 

Dante,  11.,  i. 

POEMS, THEIR  EFFECT  ON  THE  READER 

To  lift  the  lives  of  common  men,  it  is, 

That  poems  make  the  common  seem  uncommon, 

Their  richest  boon,  believe  me,  that  which  brings 

To  him  who  reads  an  inward  consciousness 

Of  oneness  with  the  spirit  that  indites  them, 

And  its  own  oneness  with  the  loftiest  spirit. 

Idem,  I.,  I. 

POEMS,   THEIR   TESTIMONY  IN    PAST  AND  FUTURE. 

In  searching  through  the  pathways  of  the  past. 
What  guide  men  better  in  their  task  than  poems? 
....  But  how  about  the  future? 
....  'T  is  in  them 

One  reads  the  most  of  that  which  is  to  come. 
....  And  in  the  present,  too? 
....  In  it,  not  that 

Which  is  but  should  be,  is  the  poet's  theme, 
And  he  who  thinks  it  thinks  the  thought  of  God. 

Idem,  II.,  I. 


292  A  POET'S  CABINET 

POEMS,  WRITING  THEM 

I  "love  to  write"?     You  near  the  truth. 

I  love  to  talk,  as  well; 
And  poems  breathe  a  part,  forsooth, 

Of  what  the  soul  would  tell. — 

Ay,  ay,  the  soul.     For  it  how  meet 
That  those  wc  love  should  see — 

Not  poems — but  the  poem  sweet 
That  all  one's  life  would  be! 

The  Poet's  Reason. 

POET  AND  POEM 

....  A  poet  like  a  poem  is  a  product. 

....  I  thought  him  born,  not  made. 

.  .  .  .  And  why  not  both? 

Let  nature  frame  a  man  to  feel.    He  thinks 

Of  what  he  feels.     He  feels  what  touches  him. 

The  substance  of  his  thought  and  feeling  then 

Is  what  experience  has  brought  near  to  him. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

POET,  HAS  TRAITS  OF  BOTH  SEXES 

He  seemed  a  woman;  now  he  seems  all  man. 
....  And  both  are  fit  in  one  ordained  to  be 
A  representative  of  all  things  human. 
If  he  by  nature  be  a  poet,  then 
He  should  by  nature  be  in  substance  that 
Which  art  demands  of  him  in  semblance. 
....  We  should  go  home. 
.  .  .  .  What  for? 

....  To  put  on  kilts, 

And  show  ourselves  half  women. 
....  Nay,  without  that. 

My  Dino,  you  can  prove  your  womanhood; 
For  who  but  women  take  all  words  to  heart, 
And  think  each  point  we  make  must  point  toward 
them?  Idem,  i.,  i. 

POET,  MUST  STUDY  THE  TRUTH 

When  born  with  souls  like  harps  the  Muse  would  play. 
What  better  can  men  do  than  toil  to  keep 
Their  thoughts  and  feelings  close  in  tune  with  truth? 
For  this  will  tax  them  wholly.     They,  who  try. 
With  those  few  strings  that  fate  has  given  to  them. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  293 

To  play  all  parts  of  all  the  orchestra 

Will  help  the  play  of  no  part.     Ideals  Made  Real,  liii. 

POET,  THE  {see  rhymes) 
The  soldier  and  the  statesman  are  the  state's, 
And  all  the  pageantry  that  can  augment 
The  dignity  of  office  and  of  power 
Befits  them,  as  the  king  his  robe  and  crown. 
Not  so  the  poet.    He  is  all  mankind's, 
Akin  to  both  the  humble  and  the  high, 
The  weak  and  strong.     Who  most  would  honor  him 
Must  find  in  him  a  brother.     He  but  strives 
To  make  the  truth  that  he  would  speak  supreme, — 
Truth  strongest  when  the  simplest,  needing  not 
The  intervention  of  pretentious  pomp. 
Plumed  with  vain  symbols  of  authority 
To  make  men  keep  their  distance. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Prelude. 

POET,  THE  DEAD 

His  voice  has  join'd  that  choir  invisible 
Of  seers  and  singers  who  have  pass'd  away, 
Which  oft,  in  moments  when  earth's  din  is  hush'd> 
Sends  back  o'er  infinite  depths  a  spirit's  call, 
Whose  inspiration  subtly  wakes  to  life 
Whatever  welling  from  the  soul  may  swell 
The  stream  of  truth  that  flows  from  each  for  all 
Toward  that  far  distant  light  where  heavenly  hues 
Presage  the  dawning  of  the  perfect  day.     Idem,  Finale^ 

POETRY 

Oh  what  were  life  without  the  worth 

Of  ideality, — 
Its  home,  heaven's  halo  round  the  earth; 

Its  language,  poetry. 
The  world  of  deeds  whose  armor  gleams 

May  light  the  path  to  right 
Far  less  than  rays  that  rise  in  dreams, 

And  days  that  dawn  at  night. 
God's  brightest  light  illumes  the  soul. 

That  light  this  life  denies 
Till  earth's  horizons  lift  and  roll 

Like  lids  from  opening  eyes. 

The  Poet's  Lesson. 


294  ^  POET'S  CABINET 

POETRY,  AN  INTERPRETER  OF  SPIRIT 

You  would  sa}'- 
One  cannot  see  the  spirit  save  through  forms. 
Yet  who  can  see  through  forms,  except  as  these 
Obscure  the  spirit?  .  .  . 
Our  king  was  right  to  bid  us  use  our  eyes, 
Yet  not  beHeve  that  what  we  saw  was  all. 
And  what  we  cannot  see,  yet  feel  exists, 
We  cannot  think  of,  save  as  we  imagine. 
And  so  the  phase  that  best  reports  the  spirit 
Is  that  of  poetry, — so  said  our  king. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

POETRY,  EFFECTS  OF  READING  IT 

At  times  in  silence  is  the  volume  read; 

At  times  aloud,  by  one  who  while  he  reads, 

With  cheeks  aglow  beside  the  brightest  lamp, 

Charms  every  listener,  e'en  the  sage  whose  head 

Will  nod  and  dream,  and  then  awake  again; 

Nor  find  within  the  volume  less  to  praise 

Because  it  chiefly  spell-bound  holds  the  young. 

In  them  the  friction  of  the  flying  rhymes 

Oft  fires  imagination  to  a  glow, 

Through  which  the  spirit  gazes  on  a  world 

That  bright  aureolas  of  circling  thoughts 

Robe  in  celestial  beauty  not  its  own, — 

A  world  that  makes  men  wistful,  and  inspires 

A  purpose  in  their  souls  to  image  forth 

In  their  real  life  a  life  that  is  ideal. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Finale. 

Por  then  the  book  is  open'd,  leaf  on  leaf 

Unfolding  there  like  petals  of  a  rose, 

A  southern  rose  far  sent  to  northern  vales 

Not  freed  from  fingers  yet  of  frozen  streams, — 

A  rose  that  with  its  odor  brings  a  thought 

Of  bright  blue  skies,  and  trees  deep-draped  in  green 

And  air  so  thick  with  fragrant  warmth  that  all 

Its  thrilling  tissues  quiver  visibly 

O'er  flowers  reflecting  back  the  choicest  rays 

That  sunlight  showers  upon  them  from  above. — 

Ah,  like  these  thoughts  more  fragrant  than  itself, 

Through  which  this  rose  recalls  another  world 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  295 

Of  beauty  and  delight  beyond  the  haze 

Of  blue  horizons  walling  our  world  in, 

Come  sweet  suggestions  opening  with  the  leaves 

That  fill  the  poet's  volume,  widening  all 

The  spirit's  range  of  sight  and  sympathy, 

And  making  e'en  the  humblest  life  appear 

To  be,  indeed,  the  noble  thing  it  is.  Idem, 

POETRY,    ITS   VALUE 

The  value  of  the  contribution  of  poetry,  in  all  cases, 
is  exactly  proportioned  to  the  light  with  which  it 
illumines  facts  in  connection  with  the  process  of  trans- 
ferring them  to  the  region  of  fancy. 

Introduction  to  The  Aztec  God. 

POETRY,  MAKING 

Making  poetry  is  practising 
The  language  of  the  spirit.  I  should  like 
To  learn  to  speak  it  altogether.     Dante,  ill.,  i. 

POETRY,  WHAT  IT  CONTAINS 

There  came  a  volume;  and  within  it,  lo. 
As  by-gone  glories  of  the  summer's  life 
Rest  focus'd  and  imprinted  in  warm  hues 
Of  autumn  leaves,  so  in  this  volume's  leaves 
Lay  all  the  glory  of  the  poet's  life. 
His  imprint  of  the  soul. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Finale. 

POETS 

Your  humming  bees  may  sip  the  sweets  they  need 
From  every  flower;  and  why  not  humming  poets? 
....  They  were  not  made  to  sting,  nor  souls  for 

stinging. 
The  poets  are  not  lesser  men  but  greater; 
And  so  should  find  unworthy  of  themselves 
A  word  or  deed  that  makes  them  seem  less  worthy. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 
In  the  vague  light  of  ages  old 
The  poets  were  the  first  who  told 
The  truths  to  make  late  logic  bold. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xviii. 
*T  was  not  the  first  time  life  has  proved  that  poets 
Are  fools  who  judge  their  fancies  to  be  facts. 

Dante,  iii.,  i. 


296  A  POETS  CABINET 

POETS  AND  PRIESTS 

You  know,  in  ancient  times,  it  was  the  poets, 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Hosea, 

Revealed  the  truth.     The  priests  could  but  repeat  it. 

Idem,  III.,  2. 
poet's  brain 
I  knew  him  when  a  boy,  a  poet  then, 
With  brain  on  fire  to  learn,  aye  glowing  like 
A  gilder's  cauldron,  so  the  crudest  thought 
That  reach'd  it  from  a  neighbor's  lip  or  book 
Came  from  it  glittering  like  a  precious  thing. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note,  i. 
poet's  meaning,  and  a  maid's 
Two  things  a  wise  man  never  boasts  about, — his 
probing  fully  to  their  depth  a  poet's  meaning,  or  a 
maid's, — the  sweeter  poem  of  the  two. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  ii. 
poet's  models 

And  the  poet's  models. 
They  bring  us  dies,  when  our  ideas  glow. 
To  leave  their  impress  and  remain  ideals. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

POETS,  THEIR  IDEALITY 

You  think, 
You  poets,  you  are  called  to  testify 
To  what  incites  you  from  within,  and  so 
The  less  you  take  from  outside  life  the  better? 

Idem,  II.,  I. 

POETS,  THEIR  IRRESPONSIBILITY 

You  poets  wing  your  words 
Without  the  least  conception  where  they  wend. 
Like  birds  with  broken  feet  that  keep  on  flying 
From  simple  inability  to  perch.  Idem,  i.,  i. 

poet's  THEMES 

Would  the  poet's  themes 
Themselves  were  worthier!     Then  they  less  might 

need 
The  lyre  of  fancy  to  give  charm  to  fact : 
Enough  of  sweetness  might  attend  reports 
Of  footfalls  really  heard,  and  deeds  perceived. 
Impelled  by  sweet  desire.     A  Life  in  Song:  Prelude. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  297 

....  And  what,  pray,  is  it  all  about? 

....  Not  hard  to  guess.  I  think, — most  likely 
what  people  all  think  most  about? 

....  What's  that? 

....  Themselves. 

....  He  said  true  poets,  they  always  think  what 
most  men  think. 

....  Yes,  poets  of  his  kind!  He  meant,  they 
write  it  out,  perhaps. 

....  Oh,  yes.  They  right  it  out  when  wrong. 
That's  what  he  meant. 

....  Humph! — Revolutionary? — is    meant    to 
turn  things  round? 

....  {beginning  to  dance) .     Oh,  yes — Turns  me. 
The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  i. 

POLICEMEN 

When  suns  begin  to  rise,  the  thieves  fly  down  some- 
where, the  angels  up;  but  the  policemen  keep  their 
places.  The  watch  of  their  blue  forms  on  earth  is 
constant  as  the  blue  in  heaven,  and,  for  the  just,  their 
stars  are  just  as  bright  as  its  are.  Idem,  iv. 

POLITE,  TOO 

A  man  too  polite  is  like  a  floor  too  polished, — is  apt 
to  make  you  slip  up,  unless  you  can  save  yourself 
because,  beforehand,  you  have  got  hold  of  something 
about  him. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  11.,  2. 

POLITENESS  AND  DISHONESTY 

In  a  world  of  donkeys,  all  trying  to  hide  their  ears 
in  a  lion's  hide  that  hides  nothing,  how  can  one  be 
wholly  honest  yet  wholly  polite?  You  see  dishonesty 
is  to  politeness  what  Latin  is  to  a  doctor,  or  pedantry 
is  to  a  teacher,  or  lace  to  a  last  year's  ball  dress.  We 
all  see  through  it;  and  yet  we  all  say  nothing  about  it. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

POLYGAMY 

Their  sex's  claims 
Are  well  acknowledged,  as  I  think,  by  him 
Who  plights  his  whole  soul's  faith  to  one  of  them. 
Why,  I  would  not  insult  these  women  so 
As  to  suggest  that  love  for  one  alone 


298  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Did  not  fill  my  whole  heart  to  overflowing. 
You  seek  here  room  for  more? — Then  you  mistake. 

The  Aztec  God,  ill. 

POPULAR 

Oh,  to  be  popular,  just  let  one  be 
Abulge  with  promise,  pledging  everything. 
Till  time  present  him  his  protested  bills, 
The  world  will  fawn  and  paw  him  like  a  cur 
To  do  his  bidding.     Promise  is  a  flea: 
It  makes  us  itch;  but  fools  us,  would  we  catch  it. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

POPULARITY 

To  you  our  suitors  all  present  their  best. 
You  get  the  diamonds  as  if  you  were  noon; 
While  I,  I  get  but  coals.     They  never  touch, 
Unless  to  burn  or  else  to  blacken  me. 

Haydn,  xxi. 

POSITION,    INFLUENCE   OF 

....  I  did  not  think  I  had  such  influence. 

....  Nor  does  the  sun.     It  never  thinks  at  all ; 
Yet  keeps  the  whole  world  whirling — by  its  light? — 
No,  no, — by  its  position.  Cecil  the  Seer,  I. 

Truth's  position  aids  its  mission,  men  will  serve  his 

voice 
Who  commands  what  most  they  treasure. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxxiv. 

One  whose  position  lifts  him  where  the  crowd 
Look  up  to  him  should  never  use  the  station 
To  drag  up  low  down  brutes.  Dante,  i.,  2. 

POSITION,    KEEPING   ONE's 

....  You  must  remember,  dear,  what's  due  to  our 
position. 

....  What? 

....  I  think  your  uncle  here  could  tell  you, — to 
keep  from  slipping  down  from  it,  to  pay  it  the  respect 
we  owe  it ;  and  not  let  people  none  respect  stand  here 
beside  us. 

....  None  respect? 

....  None  in  society,  I  mean — the  kind  we  go  in. 
So,  for  it,  we  must  be  careful. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  299 

....  Yes,  I  see,  , 

....  We  always  must  be  full  of  care, — when  poor, 
for  fear  the  rich  will  harm  us;  when  rich,  for  fear  'twill 
be  the  poor.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  11. 

POSSESSION  BY   EVIL 

Why,  one  might  almost  visit  hell  to-day 
In  safety, — so  deserted  by  the  fiends 
Called  out  to  take  possession  here  of  you ! 

Dante,  11.,  2. 

POSSESSIONS,    HAVING    NONE 

Don't  you  fear!  Men  squeeze  a  lemon  for  its  juice. 
There's  nothing  one  can  ever  have  that  always  keeps 
him  quite  so  safe  as  having  nothing. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  11. 
POSTHUMOUS  FAME  {see  FAME  and  monument) 
Those  heroes  of  old  Rome  appear'd  not  gods 
Till  all  were  dead  and  veil'd  from  mortal  eyes. 

Haydn,  vii. 

POWER,   BEHIND  THE  DEVIL 

The  power 
That  handles  Kraft  can  make  that  devil  spin 
Like  potter's  clay  to  work  out  his  designs. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 

PRACTICAL  vs.  SPECULATIVE 

If,  man,  your  metaphysics  be  not  yet 
Beyond  all  physics,  pray  you,  cure  yourself; 
Be  more  material;  or  material  powers 
Will  alienated  grow,  and  so  forget 
And  count  you  out  in  all  their  reckonings ; 
And  you  who  are  of  earth,  will  earth  own  not; 
And  you  who  would  be  heaven's,  will  heaven  own  not. 
To  own  yourself  and  only  own  yourself. 
Is  worse  than  serfdom  that  has  earn'd  a  smile, 
Though  but  from  wrinkling  cheeks  of  sham  good-will. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  liv, 

PRAYER 

Ay,  men  feel,  that,  bow^'d  in  prayer. 
Not  with  flesh  and  blood  they  wrestle,  but  with  those 

that  rule  the  air; 
Nor  will  vanish  thence  till  vanquish'd  by  that  Spirit, 

whose  control 


300  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Rolls  the  star,  and  waves  the  sea,  and  works  the  most 

self-govern'd  soul; 
And  can  send,  for  rare  communion,  cloth'd  in  raiment 

all  too  white 
For  the  ken  of  common  vision,  those  who  force  the 

wrong  to  flight.     A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxiv. 

PREACHING 

Who  rails  at  preaching  proves  his  need  of  it. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

PREJUDICE 

Moods,  whose  range, 
Is  girt  by  customs  past  (which  could  alone 
Prejudge  thought's  present  range),  fit  prejudice; 

Haydn,    li. 

PREJUDICE  vs.  PROOF 

There  are  some  things  that  neither  you  nor  I  can 
explain.  One  is  why  people  always  prefer  to  be 
governed  by  their  own  prejudices  rather  than  by 
others'  proofs.  What  Money  Can't  Buy,  11. 

PRETENDERS 

No  longer  they  seek  for  the  right,  too  vain 
To  ask  it,  and  make  their  ignorance  plain. 
No  longer  they  struggle  for  love  that  lends 
No  more  than  frailty  borrows  from  friends. 
No  longer  they  live  in  the  light,  but  trust 
Disguises  that  doom  them  to  garbs  of  dust. 
Oh  earth,  tho'  royal  the  robes  you  bring. 
They  stifle  the  spirit  to  which  they  cling! 

Love  and  Life,  xix. 

PRETENSE 

When  only  a  boy, 
To  know  a  little  is  all  our  joy. 

But  alas,  for  a  man, 
His  trials  begin  as  Adam's  began! 
Like  him,  we  all  would  be  gods,  and  boast 
Of  knowledge  and  power  to  the  uttermost. 

When  comes  the  day 
Revealing  how  small 
Is  the  sphere  that  life  has  allotted  us  all, 

We  choose  a  way 
To  rise  or  to  fall; 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  301 

We  accept  from  above, 

And  use  with  love 

Our  partial  dower, 
And  learn  to  master  and  make  it  a  power; 

Or  we  boast  of  what 

Our  souls  have  not, 
And  turn  from  the  frank,  fair  ways  of  truth 
To  the  ways  that  avoid  it,  and  think,  forsooth,    " 
That  nothing  can  shatter  a  sham  defense 
That  hides  our  hollo wness  in  pretense. 

Idem,  xviii. 

PRIEST  {see  LOVE  AS  SOURCE  OF  LAW) 

One  time,  when,  lonely,  I  to  Christ  had  knelt 

I  rose  to  seem  not  lonely;  I  was  His, 

He  mine.     I  vow'd  to  live  then  but  for  Him, 

To  break  away  from  every  cord  of  Earth, 

And  make  my  life  accordant  with  his  own. 

Not  only  would  I  think  the  truth,  but  yield 

Each  grain  in  all  my  being  to  the  truth. 

And  sow  in  wildest  wastes,  where  all  should  germ 

In  generations  growing  toward  the  good. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  vi. 

A  novice  yet,  though,  like  St.  Paul, 
To  will  was  present  with  me;  to  perform 
I  found  not  how;  but,  on  performance  bent, 
Within  a  chancel  chanting  with  the  choir, 
I  stood  before  an  altar,  half  the  day. 
And  half  before  my  books,  with  cravings  pale 
For  church  and  stole  and  sermons  of  my  own. 

Idem. 
A  priest — a  man,  forsooth, 
Who  differs  from  the  rest  of  men  in  clothes, 
In  wearing  worn-out  habits,  which  the  need 
And  progress  of  our  times  have  cast  aside ; — 
Ay,  wearing  them  o'er  body,  mind,  and  soul. 

Haydn,    LI. 

And  go  you  as  a  student, 
Nor  clad  so  like  a  priest,  for  whom  all  earth 
Will  don  some  Sabbath-day  demean;  go  free 
To  find  the  man,  hard  by  his  work,  at  home. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  vii. 


302  A  POET'S  CABINET 

God  started  man;  man's  deviltry  the  priest. 
For  one,  I  like  the  thing  God  started  best. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 

PRIEST,  WHEN  ARBITRARY 

Priests 
Are  not  ordain'd  for  work  in  every  sphere. 
A  prince  dispenses,  does  not  mine,  his  gold. 
A  priest  administers  the  truth  reveal'd; 
What  power  has  he  to  delve  divine  designs, 
Or  minister  dictation,  in  the  spheres 
Where  God,  to  train  our  reason,  leaves  us  free? 

Haydn,  xxvi. 

I  tell  you  this  is  cursed  selfishness ; 

I  tell  you  it  is  downright  sacrilege! — 

To  strain  the  oceans  of  the  Infinite 

Down  through  that  sieve,  man's  windpipe,  wheezing  out, 

"  I  deal  the  voice  of  God,  I,  I,  the  priest. "     Idem,  xxv. 

PRIESTESS 

But  I  like  to  unfold  to  her  all  my  plans 
For  the  courage  she  makes  me  possess, 

Like  a  warrior  touch 'd  by  a  priestess's  hands, 
Foretelling  a  sure  success. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XL. 

PRIESTHOOD 

I  see  a  portion  of  the  heaven  of  which 
The  priesthood  holds  the  key,  is  on  the  earth. 

The  Aztec  God,  I 

PRIESTHOOD   AND    THE    IMAGINATIVE    MIND 

That  fancy  thin  my  own  true  self  reveal'd. 

If  spray  it  were,  it  left  a  constant  sea 

That  heaves  and  heaves.     With  moods  that  move  like 

mine. 
So  madden'd  by  traditions,  calm'd  by  dreams. 
Content  scarce  ever,  till  at  hazard  dash'd 
Through  ways  that  lead  to  sheer  uncertainty, 
Where  fancy  more  may  seek  than  matter  shows 
In  things  that  are  but  matter, — what  am  I 
For  life-work  such  as  priesthood,  sure  in  creeds 
And  sureties  for  the  soul,  whereon  may  lean 
All  weaker  faith,  with  warrant  not  to  bend? 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lii. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  303 

PRIESTS  OF  NATURE 

We  mortal  men  may  all  be  priests,  high  priests 

Of  nature,  who  may  gather  in  from  beasts 

And  birds  and  creeping  things,  and  sky,  and  earth, 

That  which  each  form  reveals  of  truth  or  worth. 

And,  in  our  higher  natures,  find  a  speech 

To  voice  the  praise  that  thought  can  frame  for  each. 

Can  aught  on  earth  give  right  supremacy. 

Except  this  priesthood  of  humanity? 

Where  burn  the  altar-fires  that  can  make  pure 

Earth's  wrong  and  dross,  and  through  their  flames 

insure 
True  worship  for  all  forms  of  life  or  art. 
If  not  enkindled  in  the  human  heart? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xi. 

PRIESTS,  WHEN  MATERIALISTS 

Nothing  like  a  priest's  grip  on  a  form 
To  squeeze  the  spirit  out  of  it ! 

The  Aztec  God,  ii. 

PRIESTS,  WHEN  MERCENARY 

I  know  of  priests  who  judge  of  gods 
Like  altars  by  their  gilding,  to  whose  greed 
One  god  in  hand  is  worth  a  score  in  heaven. 
For  every  time  they  kneel  to  touch  their  puppet. 
It  shakes  to  sprinkle  gold-dust  on  them. 

Idem,  IV.,  I. 

PRINCE 

....  A  prince 

....  Is  mortal 

....  Is  a  lord  of  earth ; 

And  on  the  earth  he  sometimes  has  the  power 
To  make  a  man  immortal.  Columbus,  i.,  i. 

PRINCESHIP 

I  reverence  the  princeship;  not  the  prince 
Who  doffs  his  regal  robes,  and  leaves  his  throne, 
And  lowers  his  aims  and  slaves  it  with  mere  serfs. 

Haydn,  xxv. 

PRINCETON 

Well  placed,  my  Princeton,  on  the  foremost  range 
Where  Allegheny  uplands  first  appear 
Bent  down  to  greet  the  sea,  bent  up  to  rear 


304  A  POET'S  CABINET 

What  walls  our  continent  of  rock  and  grange! 

If  English  sires,  too  loyal  to  seek  change, 

Their  Elingston,  Queenston,  Princeton  founded  here, 

It  made  no  Witherspoon  nor  Stockton  fear 

A  throne  that  dared  their  new  land's  rights  estrange. 

Nor  now  shall  Princeton,  welcoming  to  her  school 

The  thought  of  Europe,  find  her  own  less  bold 

Because  of  that  which  from  abroad  is  drafted. 

Princeton  University. 

PROBLEM  PLAYS 

.  .  .  This  is  a  problem  play;  and  they  themselves 
are  problematical.  Are  mighty  few  folks  in  the  world, 
I  guess,  who  wouldn't  rush  to  see  their  own  traits 
prinked  and  staged,  and  everybody  staring  at  them. 

....  I  wish  that  no  one  ever  saw  such  plays  but 
those  who  have  already  solved  the  problems. 

....  Why  so? 

.  .  .  .  If  so,  they  might  not  try  to  solve  them  in 
their  own  future.  The  Two  Paths,  ill. 

PROGRESS  {see  ADVANCE,  CHANGE,  and  MODERN) 

Beneath  men's  outward  lives 
There  flows  a  force  whose  current,  sweeping  on, 
Impels  to  outward  good.    But  if  they  start 
To  gain  this  good,  they  oft  are  driven  back; 
And  oft  must  start  anew.    Through  all  their  lives 
They  thus  may  struggle  forward,  then  draw  back. 
And  move  now  here,  now  there,  and  half  believe. 
Like  half  the  world,  that  all  their  deeds  are  vain; 
Yet  must  it  be  that  far  above  this  earth, 
Where  grander  progress  courses  grander  paths 
Than  mortals  ever  dream  of,  aims  that  urge 
Men's  hope  so  vainly  to  and  fro  below. 
Are  seen  to  swing  the  pendulums  that  turn 
The  hands  on  heaven's  high  dials  to  better  times. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Prelude. 

Can  you  deem 
That  all  the  springs  that  flow  to  swell  the  stream 
Of  ever-living  truth  are  far  away 
As  where  fair  Eden's  first  clear  water  lay? 
Are  there  no  nearer  mountain-sides  and  plains, 
O'erflowing  with  their  stores  from  present  rains? 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  305 

Is  there  no  rock  struck  now  by  prophet's  hands 
To  meet  in  barren  fields  the  new  demands 
Of  thirsting  souls,  who  find  the  stream  of  thought 
Polluted  by  the  debris  caught  and  brought 
From  long  past  ages? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  xlv. 

Never  yet  an  age  progress'd,  but  something  wrought 

there  stronger  still 
In  the  power  that  swept  it  onward  than  was  in  a  human 

will. 
Never  yet  a  deep  desire  for  light  aroused  a  slumbering 

race, 
But  above  the  heaven  was  open'd,  and  the  night  to 

day  gave  place. 
Thanks  to  God  for  nobler  spirits  whom  the  morning 

breezes  wake, 
When  they  bear  the  tidings  forward,  that  the  dawn 

begins  to  break; 
When  they  pierce  the  gloom  of  forests,  and  across  the 

deserts  roam, 
Heralding  the  truth,  enlightening  every  darkened  hu- 
man home.  Idem,  Watching,  xvi. 

Now  I  see  the  day  before  me,  when  the  pageantries  of  lies 
Which  have  check'd  the  march  of  progress,  melt  as 

clouds  in  summer  skies. 
Come,  divines,  and  seek  the  limits  of  a  sect  whose 

name  ye  call — 
Feel  for  flying  shades  of  darkness.    Love  has  levell'd 

every  wall. 
Free  in  form  but  bound  in  feeling,  slight  in  talk  but 

strong  in  deed. 
What  the  Lord  has  left  to  manhood  man  has  left  out- 
side his  creed. 
Statesmen,  come  and  seek  the  boundaries  of  the  land 

your  people  fear'd; 
Phantom-like  the  foes  conjured  there  in  the  night, 

have  disappear'd; 
Wealth,  and  rank,  and  honor,  come,  and  seek  the  poor, 

the  low,  the  base, — 
Where  are  they? — in  all  about  you  now  the  child  of 

God  ye  face. 


3o6  A  POET'S  CABINET 

More  and  more  give  way  the  barriers:  one  in  feeling, 

one  in  thought, 
What  remains  to  hinder  aught  that  all  aspiring  souls 

have  sought? 
What  are  plains  and  mounts  and  oceans,  what  are 

tongues  to  unity? 
Commerce,  customs,  institutions,  have  not  all  one 

destiny? — 
When  the  time  shall  come,  a  banner  by  the  right  shall 

be  unfurl'd, 
Where  the  patriots  of  the  nation  shall  be  patriots  of 

the  world ; 
And  the  right  shall  triumph  then  in  spite  of  selfish 

men  and  strong, 
Gog  and  Magog  or  the  devil, — or  conservers  of  the 

wrong.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xx. 

PROHIBITION,    NOT    TRAINING    RESISTANCE    (see    SELF- 
CONTROL  and  temptation) 

....  Ah,  just  there, my  friend,  you  hint  thecanker- 
worm  that  makes  most  forms  of  prohibition  rot.  The 
old  Greeks  used  to  tell  about  the  hydra — could  not  be 
killed  by  cutting  off  one  head ;  it  had  so  many  heads — 
must  cut  off  all.  It  is  not  appetites  we  have  to  fight, 
but  appetite  in  general — all  of  it. 

....  And  what  has  that  to  do  with  prohibition  ? 

....  It  never  can  prohibit  all  that  tempts  us; 
and  what  it  does  prohibit  is  prevented  from  train- 
ing in  us  habits  of  resisting. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ii. 

PROMINENCE   OBTAINED   BY   DEPRIVING   OTHERS   OF    IT 

A  king  is  human ;  place  is  relative ; 
Down  honor,  and  you  boost  dishonor  up. 
Make  men  in  common  kneel,  and  common  men 
Stand  up  like  giants.     Banish  out  of  sight 
The  bright  minds,  and  the  dull  ones  beam  like  beacons 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 

PROMISE,  A  woman's 

What  woman  ever  cared  about  her  word — 
Her  own  word  or  her  husband's?     Bless  her  jaws! 
They  have  so  many  words,  why  care  for  one  word? 

Idem,  III.,  I. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  aof 

PROMISE,  FULFILLING  ONE  {see  VOW) 

Honor  helping  none  and  harming  self, 
Need  never  serve  the  body  of  a  vow 
From  which  the  life  to  which  it  vowed  has  flown. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

PROMISE,  NEEDS  A  GUARANTEE  BEHIND  IT 

But  your  word- 


....  Would,  like  a  bank-note,  quickly  lose  its  worth 

Were  nothing  stored  behind  it,  to  make  true 

The  storage  it  bespeaks.  Idem. 

PROMISE,  SECURED  BY  A  LIE 

A  promise  made  to  suit  a  lie  but  cloaks 
Untruth  that  truth  should  strip  and  so  show  naked. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 

PROMISED  LAND 

The  poet's  is  the  promised  land, — 
Is  always  promised,  but  it  never  comes. 

Idem,  I.,  2. 

PROMOTION 

Why  blame  my  soul,  because  it  must  be  true 
To  higher  aims  and  higher  influence? 
If,  seeking  these,  this  world's  promotion  come, 
Let  come!     I  take  it  then  by  right  divine. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  I. 

PROPERTY,    master's,    VS.    WORKMAN'S 

....  The  master's  property  is  all  the  workman's 
principle. 

....  It  is?     And  who  wants  principle? 

....  Yourself — enough  at  least  to  have  some  care 
for  your  own  interest.     The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  i. 

PROPHECY 

His  life  was  hard,  yet  seemed  a  rare  romance, 
The  sense  in  thrall,  the  soul  at  liberty; 

And,  winged  beyond  his  age  in  its  advance, 
What  he  saw  then,  we  now  term  prophecy. 

The  American  Pioneer. 

PROPHET 

Ay,  rare,  indeed,  in  that  day  is  his  fate. 
If  the  eye  of  the  prophet — so  noble  a  trait — 
Escape  from  censure  and  gibe  and  hate. 
For  an  eye  like  his  will  a  goal  pursue 


308  A  POET'S  CABINET 

So  fax  in  advance  of  his  time  and  its  view, 
That  only  the  march  of  an  age,  forsooth, 
Can  o'ertake  the  vision  he  sees  in  his  youth. 
But,  oh!  in  that  age,  when  it  comes,  the  earth 
Will  live  in  his  light  and  know  of  his  worth. 
And  many  and  many  will  be  the  men 

Who  move  on  then, 

And  about  them  find 
The  scenes  that  he  in  his  day  divined, 
Who,  sure  of  his  presence,  will  know  he  is  nigh. 
And  feel  he  is  leading,  and  never  can  die. 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 

PROPHET,  TEST  OF  A 

My  words  come  true,  eh? — One  might  think  they 

would; 
So  few  regard  them !     It  is  one  sure  test 
Of  prophets  that  they  prophesy  in  vain. 

Columbus  f\.,  2. 

PROPHETIC  VISION 

If  only  once  the  souls  that  climb 

So  slowly  up  this  mount  of  time, 

Could,  with  prophetic  vision  clear, 

See  views  that  from  its  peaks  appear; 

Then  gaze  below,  where  foul  mists  creep 

Along  black  waters  of  the  deep, 

Note  slippery  stones  that  trip  the  feet, 

Or  slide  beneath  the  indiscreet. 

How  closely  would  they  watch  and  tread 

The  narrow,  narrow  paths  ahead! 

And  then,  should  one  a  safe  way  trace 

O'er  some  supremely  dangerous  place, 

What  could  he  do,  except  to  try, 

Tho'  plains  were  wide,  and  hills  were  high. 

To  make  those  heed  his  warning  cry, 

Who  in  the  paths  behind  him  moved? 

Though  means  he  chose  to  some  but  proved 

His  madness  and  his  meanness  both 

Which  they  must  hound  with  many  an  oath; 

Though  he  were  kill'd  where  loom'd  the  danger, 

His  corpse  might  save  some  coming  stranger. 

Who  in  the  stare  of  death  could  trace 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  309 

The  aims  that  flush' d  his  Hving  face. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xix 

PROPOSAL,  FOR  MARRIAGE,  A 

For  I  would  say  I  loved  her,  not  her  aims. 
If  then  she  should  prefer  her  aims  to  me, 
It  would  be  proof  that  she  could  love  me  not. 
But  if  she  should  prefer  me  to  her  aims. 
Then  surely  she  could  yield  her  wish  to  mine. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxiv. 

So,  near  the  sunset  of  a  summer's  day. 

While  walking  by  the  lake  within  the  park, 

"I  mean,"  I  breathed  out  cautiously,  "to  write 

A  tale  of  love;  and  I  have  plann'd  the  tale 

To  open  here.     In  after  time,  perchance. 

Those  minds  to  whom  it  proves  of  interest 

May  love  to  linger  here,  recalling  it. 

Look  now — this  lake.     To  gain  the  full  effect 

Of  palace,  park,  and  yonder  heaven  unveil'd, 

One,  gazing  downward  in  the  water's  depth 

Should  note  them  wash'd  of  gross  reality. 

And — as  in  art — reflected.     With  this  view 

This  tale  of  mine  shall  open.     First  of  all. 

Here,  in  the  sunshine  near  us — at  our  feet — 

Ay,  in  the  water;  ay,  friend,  here  I  mean — 

Just  underneath  us, — mark  you,  mark  you,  there, 

The  hero,  and,  beside  him,  his  ideal!" 

Idem,  XXXV. 

PROPOSING  TO  A  SWEETHEART 

"And  there's  another  sphere  in  life,"  he  added 
hurriedly,  as  though  he  feared  that,  if  he  should  stop, 
his  courage  might  forsake  him — "another  sphere,  in 
which  a  woman  can  do  more  for  one  than  in  this,  and 
that  is — in  the  home.  What  might  a  home  not  be, 
could  it  have  you  there  as  its  mistress!" 

They  walked  a  little  way  in  silence.  Then  the  girl, 
who  had  not  yet  looked  up,  knelt  down  on  the  pave- 
ment of  the  green-house.  They  had  come  to  the 
flower  that  she  had  taken  him  there  to  see.  That 
flower  she  plucked,  and  a  leaf  or  two,  and  then  she 
rose  and  reached  up  to  his  button-hole — the  one  in  his 
coat  that  lay  the  nearest  to  his  heart — and  placed  her 


3IO  A  POET'S  CABINET 

gift  within  it.  Then  the  captain  caught  her  head  be- 
tween his  hands,  and  made  her  look  up  toward  him ;  and 
it  was  not  the  hot  flush  on  her  cheeks  that  dried  the  tears 
that  trembled  in  her  eyes,  nor  the  smile  that  was  break- 
ing there  that  shook  them  off,  but  the  first  embrace  in 
which  she  buried  her  blushing  face  in  the  bosom  of  her 
heart's  true  love.  Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  xvi. 

PROSE 

A  poet  has  to  pose,  to  prose  himself 
Sufficiently  for  some  companionship. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 

PROSPERITY 

Wharves  and  ships  that  fill'd  a  harbor,  busy  streets, 

and  market-halls, 
Fruit-red  trees,  and  yellow  corn-fields,  open  mines  that 

gemm'd  a  land. 
And  a  gay-dress'd  throng  that  drove  through  winding 

ways  to  mansions  grand. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxxiv. 

PROTECTOR,  MAN  AS  A 

A  woman  never  is  as  much  a  woman  as  when  she 
feels  that  man  is  her  protector ;  nor  man  as  much  a  man 
as  when  he  feels  the  same.  The  law  works  perfectly 
for  both.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ill. 

PROVIDENCE 

We  war  with  Providence,  who  war  with  life. 
We  seek  to  mould  our  own  existence  out; 
But  life,  best  made,  is  mainly  for  us  made. 
Each  passing  circumstance,  a  tool  of  heaven, 
Grates  by  to  smooth  some  edge  of  character, 
And  model  manhood  into  better  shape. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxxi. 
God  guided  it  and  us,  alas, 
But  how  He  scorch'd  our  heaven  to  pass 
His  finger  through  the  skies! 

Our  First  Break  with  the  British. 

PROVIDENCE,     LEAVING     TO 

Why,  he  had  done  his  duty,  sown  the  seed; 
Then  why  not  leave  the  rest  with  Providence? 
....  Fling  seed  to  seas,  or  bid  it  root  in  winds; 
But  do  not  trust  your  thoughts  to  Providence. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  311 

Their  soil  is  in  humanity,  nor  there 
Spring,  grow,  or  ripen  without  husbandry. 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 

PUBLIC  SENTIMENT 

These  all  but  echoed  back  my  own  soul's  voice; 

And  yet,  augmented  by  the  voice  of  all. 

In  heeding  them,  I  heeded  not  myself. 

But  something  greater,  grander  than  myself. 

For  if  a  single  man  may  image  God, 

Tlien  many  men  who  join  their  partial  gifts 

And  parted  wisdom, — till  the  whole  become 

Not  merely  human  but  humanity's, — 

May  watch  our  ways  and  keep  them  circumspect 

With  eyes  that  often  wellnigh  stand  for  His 

Who  still  more  fully  in  mankind  than  man 

Rules  over  truth  in  each  through  truth  in  all. 

Why  term  me  slave,  then,  when  I  serve  my  kind? — 

Through  serving  it,  I  best  may  serve,  as  well. 

My  godlier  self! — Let  general  thought  take  shape; 

What  better  can  incarnate  sovereignty? 

What  stir  to  nobler  dreams  or  grander  deeds? 

The  soul  in  reverence  may  kneel  to  it, 

Yield  all  to  it. — So  may  my  neighbors  reign, 

And  I  may  be  their  slave,  yet  own  myself; 

And  deify,  while  I  defy  my  pride! 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LXiii. 

PUBLIC  SENTIMENT,  IN  MEN  AND  WOMEN 

A  man  but  in  his  public  thought 
Antiphonals  the  public  sentiment. 
A  woman  does  it  in  her  private  thought; 
And  woe  to  lovers  who  dare  say  their  say 
Without  a  little  clique  that,  echoing  it. 
Can  make  it  seem,  at  least,  a  little  public. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 

PUBLICITY,  A  CURE  FOR  SOCIAL  EVILS 

And  ought  to  swear 
To  level  every  wall  that  can  shut  out 
The  sun  that  brings  to  light  man's  every  act, — 
The  only  weapon  that  can  ward  off  ill 
From  souls  allured  to  wrong  through  secrecy. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 


312  A  POET'S  CABINET 

PULPIT  (see  stage) 
Ah,  could  they  all  who  plead  with  men  for  truth, 
Meet  face  to  face  convictions  that  are  strong, 
How  strong  would  grow  the  pleaders,  and  how  wise! 
No  longer,  fill'd  with  fear  lest  prejudice 
Should  flee  the  shock  of  unaccustomed  thought, 
Would  coward-caution  hush  to  voiceless  death 
The  truth  that  breathes  within.    Earth  would  not  hold 
One  pulpit  echoing  like  a  parrot-cage 
The  thought-void  accents  of  a  rote-leam'd  creed; 
Nor  heed  one  preacher  like  a  cell-bound  monk 
Who,  knowing  men  as  boys  in  school  know  flowers, 
Not  as  they  grow,  but  pluck'd  and  press'd  in  books, 
Would  rather  save  the  pictures  of  the  soul 
Sketch'd  on  some  small  cell  wall,  than  one  live  soul 
In  whose  free  thinking  God  depicts  himself. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  4. 

PULL,  A 

Some  men,  if  any  matter  ever  go  against  them,  are 
always  looking  for  a  man  behind  it.  The  world  to 
them  is  just  one  big  machine — a  puppet-show;  the 
thing  comes  out  ahead  that  you  or  I  have  given  the 
strongest  pull.  On  Detective  Duty,  11 

PUNISHMENT,  EFFECT  OF  UNJUST  {see  JUSTICE) 

You  fail  to  see  the  danger?     Why,  their  tribe 

Will  massacre  us  all;  if  not,  your  vices 

Will  bring  you  hell  here,  even  while  you  live. 

....  You  know  my  story — was  condemned  to  death — 

For  nothing,  though — and  then  the  court  decreed. 

Instead  of  this,  that  I  should  come  out  here; 

And  if  I  make  it  hell,  it  seems  to  me. 

In  hell  is  where  they  want  me.         Columbus,  v.,  i. 

PURE 

And  coming  softly  down  from  above, 
And  crossing  a  corridor  clothed  in  white, 

I  saw  my  love, — 
A  form  as  pure  as  the  moon's  pure  light, 
A  form  so  pure  that  the  night's  dark  air 
Seem'd  the  robe  most  fitting  for  me  to  wear; 
And  I  shrank  to  my  gloom,  and  left  her  there. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xii. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  313 

PURE,  IN  SPIRIT 
Oh,  nothing  of  good  can  Hfe  secure 
Save  when  the  springs  of  Hfe  are  pure! 
When  this  they  be, 

Their  earhest  vent, 
As  mad  and  free 
As  a  mount's  cascade,  may  all  seem  spent 
In  dashing  away 
To  spatter  and  spray, 
But  yet  may  go 
In  an  onward  flow 
To  flood  wide  valleys  where  buds  are  elate, 
And  fruit  is  forming,  and  harvests  wait. 

Love  and  Life,  XLiv. 

PURE  SOUL,  MAKING  SURROUNDINGS  PURE 

Your  pure  soul 
Breathed  such  an  atmosphere  about  itself, 
Your  very  presence  could  impart  an  air 
Of  sacredaess  to  all  brought  near  to  you. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

PURITANIC 

But  all  began  to  pray, 
With  eyes  to  duty  open  wide — 
The  Puritanic  way. 

The  Lebanon  Boys  in  Boston. 

PURITANS 

For  they  forgot,  our  lords, 

They  dealt  with  Puritans, 
True  sons  of  those  whom  Cromwell  led, 

Whose  right  means  every  man's; 
Who  take  their  individual  ill 

For  proof  of  general  pain. 
And,  where  one  prince  has  made  them  wince, 

Fight  all,  that  man  may  reign.        Ethan  Allen. 

PURPOSES  IN  LIFE 

All  life's  purposes 
Are  held  like  lenses  that  a  soul  may  use 
To  gather  in  heaven's  light  and  flash  it  round 
Upon  its  world  illumin'd;  or,  not  so, — 
If  turn'd  on  self, — to  but  inflame  and  dim 
Its  own  self-centered  vision.    Ideals  Made  Real,  lxix. 


314  A  POET'S  CABINET 

PUZZLES 

I  do  not  understand  this. 

....  No;  but  half 

The  interest  of  life  is  in  its  puzzles. 

The  Aztec  God,  ii. 

RACE-PREJUDICE 

Clear  the  air. 
Stand  off  a  white  man's  shadow. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

RAILWAY 

Escaped  from  them,  his  feet  approach'd  a  town 

From  which  a  railway  stretch'd  invitingly; 
And  in  its  train  he  soon  had  sat  him  down. 
It  moved,  and  filled  his  mind  with  ecstasy. 
The  hum  recall'd  his  favorite  melody. 
The  trees  wheel'd  by  like  dancers  in  their  flight; 

And,  as  they  whirl'd  with  mad  rapidity, 
Spell-bound,  he  slept  and  dream'd  all  wrought  for 

right, 
And  made  the  world  they  wrought  in,  beautiful  and 
bright.  A  Life  hi  Song:  Daring,  xxx. 

RAIN  {see  harvesting) 
April's  rain  is  autumn's  gain. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  XLI. 
rake 
I  feign'd  a  fall  in  fancied  depths  of  ill. 
And  mock'd  that  I  might  hear  her  call  me  thence; 
And  learn'd  therein  to  envy  some  the  rake. 
For  what  a  charm  it  were  to  hear — not  so? 
That  is,  if  one  were  vicious,  through  and  through — 
Such  pleas  for  love  from  lips  that  aye  were  pure? 
The  very  depth  of  one's  unworthiness 
Would  whet  such  relish  for  a  thing  so  strange! 

Ideals  Made  Real,  L. 

RANCH    experience 

....  The  most  of  the  people  out  here  have  to  hunt 
as  much  for  a  thing  to  see  as  they  do  for  a  thing  to  eat. 

....  They  do? — with  the  sheep  and  the  cattle 
that  keep  up  their  going  and  coming;  and  clouds  of 
grasshoppers  flying,  and  coyotes  and  partridges  dart- 
ing up  out  of  the  rocks  and  the  grasses,  and  rattle- 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  315 

snakes  turning  to  life  the  very  sticks  at  your  feet! 
The  most  enHvening  place  I  ever  set  foot  in.  .  .  .  We 
went  over  here  three  miles  to  visit  a  prairie-dog  town. 
We  found  such  a  lovely  valley;  and,  at  last,  we  spied 
three  owls.  At  first  I  thought  they  were  bird's  nests, 
bushed  up  on  a  dead  tree's  branches ;  but  Foodie  called 
them  watchmen — night  watchmen,  you  know,  of  the 
dog-town.  I  wonder  whether  they  guard  the  dogs 
the  most,  or  haunt  them.  Well,  then,  as  we  passed  the 
owls,  we  pounced,  full  drive,  on  the  town.  The  dogs 
were  sunning  themselves  on  the  tops  of  their  little 
mounds.  When  Foodie  drove  in  among  them,  3^ou 
ought  to  have  seen  them  dodging  and  darting  down  to 
their  holes.  It  seemed  to  me  just  like  charging  through 
hills  of  elephant  ants.  You  do  everything  here  out 
West  on  a  very  big  scale.  The  Ranch  Girl,  11. 

RANK 

For  him  who  judges  manhood  by  its  best 

There  is  no  noblest  rank  not  won  by  soul, 

No  throne  worth  seeking  reached  on  steps  of  sod, 

No  life  that  ever  can  seem  wholly  blest 

But  feels  itself  a  part  of  that  great  whole. 

At  one  with  which  is  being  one  with  God. 

Class  and  Caste. 
The  work  that  lets 
These  conmion  laborers  wipe  their  dirty  paws 
Upon  one's  coat. 

....  Then  take  it  off. 

....  ^  Ay,  ay; 

And  grovel  at  their  level? 
....  Does  your  rank 

Depend  upon  your  coat? — pray  heaven  that  you 
Be  born  again,  a  new  man  and  a  true  one. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

RATIONAL    ACTION 

Rational  action  is  to  the  spirit  what  self-respect  is  to 
the  body.  Pyschology  of  Inspiration,  xi. 

RATIONAL,  AS  THE  SOURCE  OF  RIGHT,  ACTION 

....  Do  you  expect  a  girl  of  my  age  to  be  able  to 
live  like  a  philosopher,  and  go  through  a  process  of 
argumentation  every  time  that  I  have  to  do  anything? 


3.16  A  POET'S  CABINET 

....  All  the  minds  in  the  world  have  to  go  through 
something  of  that  process.  If  not,  they  have  not 
attained  rationality,  which  is  the  one  thing  that 
separates  a  human  being  from  a  brute. 

....  And  if  they  have  not  attained  it? 

....  To  speak  plainly,  I  fail  to  see  why — meta- 
phorically, at  least — they  shouldn't  go  to  the  devil — • 
either  in  this  world  or  in  the  next,  and  probably  in 
both.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

REASON    {see  HEADS   AND  HEARTS   ) 

Some  things  that  may  go  wrong 
Are  righted  by  the  touch  of  circumstance. 
....  Most    things    are   righted    by   the    touch    of 

reason. 
Without  it  men  are  but  base  tools  of  passion, 
And  all  their  world  here,  the  abode  of  brutes. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 
Would  reason  drop  the  curtain  of  the  eye. 
And  dwell  in  darkness,  and  be  proud  of  it? 

The  Aztec  God,  ii. 

If  one  clear  truth  have  cross'd  the  world's  brink, 

This  truth  is  clear, — 

That  all  learn  here 
Less  what  to  do,  than  how  to  think. 

Less  what  they  ought  to  gain  or  lose, 

Or  feel  or  say, 

Than  how  to  weigh 
The  worth  of  what  they  judge  or  choose. 

And  if  spirit-life  be  a  life  in  thought, 

Thought  must  control 

The  reasoning  soul 
Before  to  the  wisest  life  't  is  brought; 

Thought  here  must  learn  to  know  and  feel. 

Yet  choose  the  mean 

'Twixt  each  extreme 
Of  dunce  or  dreamer,  sloth  or  zeal. 

Life's  problem  thus  may  all  be  solved, 

If  far  above 

Earth's  truth  or  love 
Heaven  rates  high  reason's  powers  evolved. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  317 

For  good  can  never  be  lost  when  sought; 
But  joy  and  pain 
Both  turn  to  gain, 
If  spirit-Hfe  be  a  life  in  thought. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxii. 

Life  has  taught  me, — ■ 
That  reason's  God  must  be  a  God  of  reason. 
If  so,  there  lives  no  right  but  reason  fashions; 
Nor  is  there  aught  that  should  seem  right  to  man 
Yet  wrong  to  reasons  fashioned  by  himself. 
So  those  who  know  they  own  an  understanding, 
And  know  how  all  things  earthly  join  to  train  it, 
Yet  think  of  God  as  all  misunderstood, 
Must  think  with  minds  whose  methods  are  the  devil's. 

Dante,  ill.,  2. 

REASON  AND  FORCE 

Beware  of  strength 
That,  like  the  brute's,  is  wielded  not  by  reason. 
Except  by  reason  thought  was  never  forced 
For  its  own  good.  Idem,  i.,  2. 

REASON  IN  A  FRAY 

A  foe  deficient  in  his  brain 
Is  quicker  vanquished  than  if  so  in  body; 
For  he  whose  reason  fails  him  in  the  fray 
Fights  like  a  knight  unbuckling  his  own  mail. 

Idem,  I.,  2. 

REASON,  NOT  HELPED  BY  ANOTHER'S  HAND 

Reason  is  a  weapon  never  helped  by  touches  of 
another's  hand  than  his  who  holds  it. 

The  Two  Paths,  in. 

REASON  vs.  MEMORY 

Have  always  heard  it,  eh? — and  most  of  us 
Commune  with  reason  through  our  memory; 
And  not  the  work  of  our  own  minds  we  heed, 
But  rote-repeated  phrases  framed  by  others. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

RECEPTIVITY,   THE  CONDITION  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE 

Though  spirit-life  be  lived  in  thought. 

Where  thought  pervades  the  atmosphere  like  air, 

What  can  its  measure  be,  for  any  mind. 

Save  that  mind's  receptivity?     If  so. 


3i8  A  POET'S  CABINET 

When  freed  from  bounds  conditioning  human  thought, 
It  is  a  mind  not  filled  so  much  as  open, 
Where  waits  not  bigotry  but  charity. 
Although  with  little  learning,  that  first  thrills 
To  tides  that  flow  from  infinite  resources. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

RECIPROCATION 

The  sun  may  fill  with  clouds  the  sky; 

The  moon  may  lift  the  tide. 
And  winds  that  blow  from  heaven  wash  high 

The  wave-swept  ocean  side; 

But  all  the  world  keeps  whirling  round; 

And  always,  while  it  hies. 
Fair  exhalations,  heavenward  bound, 

From  mead  and  main  arise. 

The  sun  and  moon  and  wind  above 

Move  not  an  unmoved  sea; 
The  heart  that  does  not  heave  for  love 

Will  not  be  woo'd  by  me. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxix. 

REFORMERS,  UNSEXED 

....  And  do  you  then  approve,  do  you  admire 
Lean,    short-haired    women,    and    lank,   long-haired 

men, 
Exchanging  shawls  and  coats,  and  stripping  life 
Of  character  to  make  it  caricature? 
....  I  do  not  much  admire  the  straw  in  spring 
That  forms  the  spread  of  flower-beds;  but  beneath 
Sleep  summer's  fairest  offspring.      Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

REGALIA   {see  FORM  AND  SPIRIT,  and  RITES) 

When  men  distrust 
Their  own  thought  or  their  thought's  authority 
So  they  disguise  it  all  in  robes  of  office. 
Which  only  men  are  bid  to  honor,  then 
I  fear  they  hide  what  no  man  ought  to  honor. 

Dante,  Ii.,  i. 

REGARD,  AWAKENED  BY  SYMPATHY 

None  can  command  regard  from  those  with  whom 
they  do  not  show  some  sympathy. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ill. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  319 

REGENERATION    {see  CHOICE,  CONVERSION,  FORMALISTS 

and  priest) 
The  graft  of  all  true  love  regenerates. 
Those  in  whom  love  is  born  are  born  anew, 
And  all  their  family  of  fancies  then 
Bear  family  traits;  those  loving,  and  those  not, 
Being  wide  apart  as  rainbows  and  the  rain. 
I  might  be  superstitious,  but  to  me 
The  temple  of  m^y  life's  experience 
Had  been  less  sacred,  had  it  held  no  shrine 
Whereon  to  heap  sweet  tokens  of  my  love. 
And  all  that  loom'd  around  seem'd  holier  now, 
Illumed  by  holy  lights  of  memory. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  XLiv. 

REINCARNATION   {see  TRANSMIGRATION) 

....  I  thought, 

That,  if  a  soul  must  live  hereafter,  why. 

It  must  have  lived  before. — You  know  the  Christ 

Did  not  rebuke  those  who  confessed  they  thought 

Elias  had  returned;  but,  in  an  age 

When  all  believed  he  might  return,  confirmed  them. 

And  then  our  creed — Where  can  it  come  to  pass, — 

The  body's  resurrection? 

....  Where? 

.  .  .  .  Where  but 

In  that  new  earth  of  Hebrew  prophecies? — 

Which  would  have  but  misled,  had  those  that  heard 

Not  had  it  in  their  power  themselves  to  be 

Restored  to  life  in  that  restored  estate. 

....  Seems  life  so  bright  then? — You  would  live  it 

over? 
....  No,  no;  so  sad  that  I  would  solve  its  reason. 
If  we  have  lived  before,  we  all  are  born 
In  spheres  to  which  our  own  deeds  destine  us. 
....  Not  Adam's? 

.  .  .  .  Each  one  may  have  been  an  Adam. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

....  Who  ever 

Met  mortal  yet  whose  memory  could  recall 
A  former  state? 
....  He  might  recall  the  state 


320  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Without  the  circumstance.     To  know,  bespeaks 
Experience.    To  be  born  with  intuitions 
And  insight,  is  to  know.    To  sun  new  growth, 
Why  should  not  all  be  given  an  equal  chance 
Unshadow'd  by  dark  memories  of  the  past? 
....  But  if  the  past  were  bright? 
....  If  wholly  so, 

Would  one  need  progress?  or  could  he  be  cursed 
With  deeper  woe  than  thought  that  could  recall, 
Enslaved  in  flesh,  a  former  liberty? 
Why  lure  to  suicide,  that,  breaking  through 
The  lines  determining  development. 
May  plunge  the  essence  down  to  deeper  depths 
There  planted  till  new  growth  take  root  anew? 

Idem,  II.,  2. 

RELIGION,    AND   REAL   ESTATE 

....  With  me  religion  is  the  chief 

Consideration.     Think  how  poor  our  life 

Would  be  without  religion. 

....  Be  less  rich, 

You  think. 

....        Just  so;  for  there  is  nothing  like 

A  church  to  elevate  the  character 

....  Of  real  estate.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

RELIGION,  ATTITUDE  OF  NATURAL 

....  Where  were  you  reared  to  such  impiety? 
....  Where  sun,  moon,  stars  rained  from  the  blue 

above 
And  flowers  were  fountained  through  the  green  below, 
Where   lights   we   knew   not   what,    but   they   were 

heaven's. 
Looked  down  on  eyes  that  looked  up  from  the  earth. 
And  men,  whatever  might  impel  their  souls. 
Were  guided  onward  by  a  goal  to  mate  it. 
....  Ay,  and  by  priests  and  prophets — Tell  the  truth 
....  Yes,  there  were  those  who  dreamed,  and  those 

who  deemed 
In  darkness  they  saw  forms  that  had  been  earth's. 
And  heard  their  words,  and  they  believed  it  true 
That  there  was  life  behind  the  sights  we  see. 
But  those  who  stood  the  highest  of  the  high, 


^.^"I^^TEALS    THE 


See  page  327. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  321 

And  knew  our  poet-king,  were  taught  to  look 
Upon  a  God  beyond  the  reach  of  men. 

The  Aztec  God,  IV. 

RELIGION,  OF  THE  SPIRIT 

Not  every  man  that  names  the  name 
That  is  the  Lord's  can  enter  here; 

But  only  those  whose  inward  aim 

Would  do  his  will  howe'er  made  clear. 

For  naught  can  reach  the  Spirit's  throne 

Save  what  in  spirit  spirits  own. 

A  Hymn  for  all  Religions. 

RELIGION  UNTRUE  TO  LAWS  WITHIN 

His  was  a  vague  religion ! 

....  Not  so  vague 

As  that  religion  is  whose  forms  befriend 

A  life  to  which  all  laws  within  the  soul 

Are  foes.  The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

RELIGIOUS,  ACCORDING  TO   THE  ZEALOT 

What  is  more  religious 

Than  ministering  discomfort?     Rile  folks  up. 
Their  dregs  appear;  they  see  their  own  foul  depths. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

RENUNCIATION 

How  many  die,  or  all  they  live  for  lose 
Because  of  weapons  honor  cannot  use! 
What  hopes  men  bury  that  the  ghosts  which  rise 
May  lead  the  dance  of  others  toward  the  skies ! 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 

REPETITION,  IN  THOUGHT 

The  slowest  lines  of  thought  are  like  the  lightning's 
In  this, — they  never  track  the  same  trail  twice. 

Dante,  in.,  2. 
REPRESSION    {see  expression) 
The  clerk,  hard  pressed,  who  holds  the  coffer's  key, 
The  scribe  in  debt  who  writes  that  none  can  see, 
The  maid  in  want  who  fingers  gem  and  dress, — 
We  trust  them  all  for  thoughts  that  all  repress. 
The  forests  flourish  and  the  sweet  flowers  blow 
Because  of  soil  that  hides  foul  roots  below; 
And  all  fair  fruits  of  human  life  are  grown 
Above  dark  moods  and  motives  never  shown. 


322  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Ah,  were  they  shown,  did  man  not  rule  himself, 
The  world  were  whelmed  in  murder,  vice,  and  pelf 
As  vainly  watchmen  trod  this  dreamlike  mist 
As  might  some  weird,  unwaked  somnambuhst. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 

REPRESSION,  OF  LOVE 

My  heart,  it  suffocates.     This  feeling  here. 

It  stifles  me.     I  think  that  one  might  die. 

Forbidden  speech.     Ah,  friend,  had  you  a  babe, 

A  little  puny  thing  that  needed  air. 

And  nursing  too ;  and  now  and  then  a  kiss, 

A  mother's  kiss,  to  quiet  it;  and  arms, 

Warm  arms  to  wrap  and  rock  it  so  to  sleep; 

Would  you  deny  it  these?     And  yet  there  lives 

A  far  more  tender  babe  that  God  calls  love; 

And  when  He  sends  it,  why,  we  mortals  here, — 

I  would  not  say  we  grudge  the  kiss,  the  clasp, — 

We  grudge  the  little  heavenling  even  air. 

The  tears  will  come.    It  makes  me  weep  to  think 

Of  this  poor  gentle  babe,  this  heir  of  heaven, 

So  wronged  because  men  live  ashamed  of  it. 

Not  strange  is  it  that  earth  knows  little  love 

While  all  so  little  dare  of  love  to  speak. 

For  once  (I  ask  no  more)  you  must  permit 

That  I  should  nurse  the  stranger,  give  it  air, 

Ay,  ay,  and  food,  if  need  be;  let  it  grow. 

God's  child  alone,  I  have  no  fear  of  it.       Haydn,  V. 

REPUBLIC,  OUR 

But  our  republic  here  must  bring  to  birth 

A  nobler  man  than  ever  lived  before; 
Or  else  from  those  who  have  not  grown  in  worth 

Will  tyrants  rise  as  they  have  risen  of  yore. 
The  home,  the  school,  the  church,  where  no  crown 
trains  one. 

Must  teach  of  reverence  and  of  truth  supreme, 
Or  many  a  will,  not  taught  what  best  restrains  one. 

Will  break  the  free  land's  peace  and  end  the  free- 
man's dream.      A  Life  in  So7ig:  Serving,  LX. 

REPUTATION 

Good  reputation  is  to  good  men  what 

Fine  perfumes  are  to  flowers.     A  charm  it  has 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  323 

Which  lures  the  sense  that  heeds  it  to  a  search 
That  will  not  cease  till  finding  its  fair  source. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  2. 

RESPONSIBILITY,  INDIVIDUAL  FOR  INDIVIDUAL  PLANS 

The  goal 
Is  not  of  their  discerning. — Why  should  they 
Be  thought  the  ones  to  bring  it  to  the  light? 

....  But  they 

....  To  them  it  seems  a  madman's  whim, 

A  thing  to  flout; — to  me  the  one  conception 
Of  all  that  is  most  rational  and  holy. 
Which,  then,  would  give  his  life  that  it  might  live? 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 

RESPONSIBILITY,  OF  CHILDREN  AND  FOOLS 

We  never  hold  a  child  responsible  for  laughing  out 
when  tickled;  nor  a  fool  for  falling  when  some  other 
fool  has  tripped  him.      Tuition  for  her  Intuition^  III. 

REST 

Rest,  the  Paradise 
Of  work,  is  yet  the  Purgatory,  too, 
Of  indolence.  Haydn,  XLIX. 

Rest  enjoys  no  more  than  effort  earns. 

The  American  Pioneer. 

The  spirit  of  life 

Is  a  spirit  of  strife; 
And,  whatever  the  thing  we  may  gain  or  miss, 
The  end  of  it  all  is  to  lie  like  a  knight 
Whose  rest  is  the  weariness  won  in  a  fight. 

Love  and  Life,  iii. 

REST,  DAY  OF,  IN  AMERICA 

....  If  anywhere  in  the  world  people  need  to  use 
their  nights,  and,  at  least,  one  day  in  the  week,  for 
rest,  it's  in  America. 

....  I  didn't  know  that  you  were  so  much  of  a 
Puritan. 

....  Not  a  Puritan,  a  patriot. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

RESTLESSNESS 

In  life's  unending  strife, 
The  wrestler  the  most  fit  to  win  the  palm 


324  A  POET'S  CABINET 

May  be  the  strong  soul's  restlessness,  while  rest, 
Like  sweetmeats,  all  too  sweet,  when  served  ere  meats, 
But  surfeits  appetite  before  it  acts.         Haydn,   iv. 

RETRIBUTION 

Each  spirit  by  and  in  itself. 
Insures  what  heaven  should  bless  or  brand. 

Her  Haughtiness. 

REVELATION  (see  INSPIRATION) 

....  Is  this  a  revelation? 

....  Ay,  to  those 

Who  heed  the  truth  behind  the  words  I  use ; 

And  yet  for  those  who  heed  this  truth  themselves 

I  do  not  need  to  term  it  revelation. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

RHETORIC,  RHYTHMIC 

While  the  wind 
Would  whistle  through  the  trees  and  round  the  rocks, 
Our  shouts  would  join  them,  now,  perchance,  intent 
To  tempt  the  lonely  echoes  to  applaud 
Our  strife  to  make  our  ungrown  voices  fit 
To  bear  the  burden  of  the  larger  thought 
For  which  the  world  beyond  our  youth  seemed  waiting ; 
And  now,  perchance,  though  seldom  recognized, 
Nor  if,  though  subtly  recognized,  confessed. 
Intent  to  gain  fore-echoes,  as  it  were. 
Of  that  which  should  be  college  approbation 
When  words  that  to  the  air  were  now  rehearsed 
Should  load  the  breath  that  carries  freight  to  spirit. 
And,  borne  along  the  clogs  of  others'  pulses. 
Should  start  that  subtle  surging  in  the  veins 
That  proves  the  presence  and  completes  the  work 
Of  what  impels  to  rhythmic  rhetoric. 

West  Mountain, 
RHYMES  (see  POEMS,  POET  and  poetry) 
None  aid,  or  deem  his  aim  sublime, 
For  only  those  who  try  to  climb 
And  reach  the  far-off  heights  of  rh3mie, 
Can  know  their  distance. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xx. 
A  poet  is  a  babe,  whose  plea 
Is  whined  in  words.    Alas  for  me, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  325 

Can  screaming  scare  away  one's  pain? 

The  rattlings  of  a  restless  brain, 

What  good  did  ever  rhymes  obtain?    Idem. 

RIDICULE  {see  laughter) 
....  Far  better  have  men  point  at  us  and  laugh, 
Than  never  have  them  point  to  us  at  all. 
....  Do  you  say  this,  who  were  so  sensitive, 
High-spirited? 

....  One  may  have  so  much  sense 

It  holds  the  spirit  down.    Besides,  our  spheres 
Are  stagnant  and  need  movement.    Make  men  take 
You  gravely  if  you  can;  if  not,  what  though 
They  laugh?     You  move  them  that  way.    There  are 

times 
The  tiniest  tinkling  that  can  tap  the  air 
Rings  up  life's  curtain  for  its  grandest  act. 

Columbus,  II.,  I. 

RIGHT  AND  WRONG 

Strange  mixture  life  is  of  the  right  and  wrong! 
Should  one  be  good,  or  kind?  and  which  is  which? 
How  much  that  seems  in  line  for  both  is  but 
A  ray  that  falls  to  form  a  pathway  here 
From  the  rent  forms  of  clouds  beyond  our  reach 
Which,  while  they  let  the  light  in,  bring  the  storm! 

Idem. 

RIGHT  APPEARING  DIFFERENT  TO  DIFFERENT   PERSONS 

When  we  deal  with  others  whose  judgment  we  must 
influence,  what  is  right  depends  much  less  on  what 
seems  right  to  us,  than  what  seems  right  to  them. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  III. 

RIGHT,  AS  DETERMINED  BY  STATE  AND  SELF 

....  But  you  and  I — we  know  the  state  is  wrong ; 
and  we  are  helping  it  to  find  the  right. 

....  The  right  to  it  is  what  the  laws  decree,  until 
the  state  that  makes  them  makes  them  void. 

The  Two  Paths,  in. 

RIGHT-MINDED  VS.   WRONG-MINDED   AS   FRIENDS 

If  you  start  out  to  repel  even  a  few  right-minded 
people,  you  may  end  by  attracting  a  good  many  who 
are  wrong-minded.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 


326  A  POET'S  CABINET 

RIGHT  OR  WRONG  DEPENDENT  ON  CIRCUMSTANCES 

The  right  is  right,  and  wrong  is  wrong. 

It  is;  and  when  a  strife  is  threatened,  that  which 
tends  to  peace  is  usually  right,  and  that  which  tends 
to  strife  is  wrong.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ii. 

RIGHT,    PERSONAL  AND   LEGAL 

....  Why,  it  is  right  to  get  your  paper. 

....  In  one  sense  yes;  but  in  another,  no.  Right 
toward  ourselves,  but  not  right  toward  the  state, 
whose  laws,  like  its  policemen,  guard  both  good  and 
bad,  and  thus  give  all  security. 

The  Two  Paths,  in. 

RIGHTEOUS,  THE,  FORCING  RECOGNITION  FROM  FOES 

Your  men  that  rule 
When  others  hold  the  place  that  they  would  fill, 
Tramp  an  inferior,  and  push  off  an  equal; 
But  if  some  scheme  they  basely  brew  be  spoiled 
By  one  above  them, — they  are  left  no  option; 
But,  like  a  cover,  they  must  lift  him  higher. 
I  So,  by  their  very  righteousness,  you  see 
The  righteous  force  their  foes  to  do  them  justice. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  I. 

RISING    IN    LIFE    THROUGH    FALLING 

.  .      .  Why  see,  my  shoe  has  been  unbuttoned. 

....  Yes;  you  take  me  for  a  shoe  shop's  clerk? 

....  I  take  you  for  one  who  wants  to  rise  in  life. 
You  know  there's  nothing  like  beginning  at  the  foot. 

....  But  some  that  do  it,  stay  there.  I  have 
heard  that  women  like  to  keep  men  at  their  feet. 

....  And  I  have  heard  that  some  men  like  to  be 
there.     The  two  things  go  together — men  and  women. 

....  Yes,  sometimes!  Sometimes,  though,  they 
keep  apart.  The  Two  Paths,  i. 

RISK 

No  one  ever  ran  a  race  worth  while  but  ran  it  at  a 
risk.  On  Detective  Duty,  in. 

RITES  {see  FORM  AND  SPIRIT,  and  regalia) 

A  publican  may  use 
Vain  rites  that  oft  the  truth  of  heaven  abuse. 
Yet  breathe  through  each  dead  body  of  a  prayer 
Sighs  that  infuse  a  living  spirit  there; 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  327 

And  he  whose  faith  in  freest  ways  may  roam 
Have  constant  yearnings  for  some  churchly  home. 
Ah,  they  who  trust  in  God's  most  sovereign  might 
Find  much  to  do,  if  they  would  do  the  right; 
And  they  who  trust  the  power  of  human  will, 
Oft  fail,  and  feel  their  need  of  mercy  still. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  lii. 

RITUALISM    {see  FORM  AND  SPIRIT,   REGALIA  and 

rites) 
With  incantations  exorcising  sin, 
The  white-robed  choir  and  priests  have  inarched  and 

bowed ; 
And  pleas,  politely  phrased  to  please  the  crowd, 
Have  flattered  those  whose  coin  the  coffers  win. 
And  thus,  forsooth,  with  lip  and  eye  and  ear 
Men  seek  to  honor  him  whose  one  chief  call 
Was  "Follow  me. "     Were  they  to  meet  him  here, 
Could  those  whose  faith  these  outward  forms  enthrall 
Trust  to  the  spirit  in  him,  or  revere 
The  kind  of  living  for  which  he  gave  all? 

The  Faith  That  Doubts. 

RIVAL,  A,  IN  COURTSHIP 

He  flutter'd  like  her  fan  at  Edith's  beck, 
Her  silence  fill'd  with  subtlest  flattery. 
Her  vacant  hours  invaded  with  himself; 
Till  all  my  life,  at  last,  appear'd  a  plot 
To  steal  upon  his  absence,  and  then  pluck 
Love's  fruit.  Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxii. 

He  on  us  burst,  and  brought  a  sudden  light 
Illuminating  her,  and  paling  me, 
Blanch'd,  ash-like,  in  the  flame  of  that  hot  flush 
That  warm'd  her  welcome.     All  my  heart  and  breath 
Seem'd  sunk  in  silence  like  the  buzzing  bees 
When  autumn  steals  the  sunlight  from  the  flowers. 
And  frost  seals  down  their  sweets.     I   heard  them 

talk 
Like  one  who  just  has  walk'd  a  glacier  path 
With  boist'rous  friends;  then,  stumbling,  slips  away, 
Far  suck'd  through  freezing  fathoms  down  to  death. 
Yet  hears  the  cruel  laughter  crackling  still. 

Idem,  XXVI. 


328  A  POET'S  CABINET 

ROMANCE 

Romance  is  a  dream 
That  the  wise  esteem, 
For  none  whom  it  never  possest 
Were  ever  the  bravest  or  best. 
The  helpers  that  bend  to  all  need 
Are  sensitive  first  to  heed 

The  calls  that  are  nearest. 
The  loving  all  learn  the  art 
Of  opening  mind  and  heart 

With  those  that  are  dearest. 
And,  oh,  wherever  two  souls  agree 

With  every  mood  transparent  within, 
How  pure  they  grow  to  the  eyes  that  see, 

How  empty  themselves  of  sin ! 

Love  and  Life,  xxii. 

Romance  is  but  the  day-time  of  the  soul 
Well  sunned  by  love,  beneath  which,  when  we  dwell, 
Each  act  of  duty  and  each  thought  of  truth 
Is  haloed  with  a  light  that  seems  like  heaven's. 
To  spirits  rightly  moved,  the  whole  of  life. 
Home,  school,  religion — all  lead  through  romance. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

ROSY 

If  I  to  you  were  cold, 
A  certain  rosy  face  with  opening  lips 
Could  come  with  power  to  bring  me  summer  air. 
Dispelling  sweetly  my  most  wintry  wish, 

Haydn,  xxiv. 

ROUGE  ON  THE  FACE  (see  PAINT) 

....  I  fail  to  understand  why  a  woman  should  be 
blamed  for  making  herself  look  beautiful. 

....  Say  beautiful  and  good.  Only  good  people 
blush,  you  know.  A  little  rouge  can  make  one  seem  to 
be  blushing  all  the  time. 

....  And  so  prepare  her  for  all  the  emergencies  of 
good  society !  Where  Society  Leads,  i 

ROUGH,  IN  CONDUCT 

You  musn't  think  I  have  no  heart.  I've  been  a  little 
rough  with  you.  But  you  were  rough  with  me,  at  first. 
You  know  we  can't  trust  strangers  always;  and  have 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  329 

to  give  back  what  we  get.  This  life's  an  ocean  wild 
with  waves ;  and  every  soul  that  sails  upon  them  must 
beat  and  keep  them  down  and  off;  or  else  be  swamped 
and  sink  in  them.      The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  in.,  2. 

ROWING   THROUGH   A   HOSTILE    FLEET 

"  The  roads  are  block'd  by  soldiers; 

We  cannot  reach  him  thus. 
What  then? — A  way  across  the  bay 

May  yet  remain  for  us, 
"  I  know  three  frigates  guard  it. 

But  when,  some  moonless  night, 
By  clouds  beset,  the  wind  and  wet 

Have  swept  the  sky  of  light ; 
"  And  when  the  breeze  and  breakers 

Out-sound  a  rowlock's  beat, 
Amid  the  roar  a  muffled  oar 

Might  safely  pass  the  fleet." 
His  comrades  hush'd  and  heard  him; 

Then  swore  to  try  the  feat; 
And  soon  with  more  each  held  an  oar 

To  row  him  past  the  fleet. 
The  night  was  dark  and  stormy; 

The  bay  was  wild  and  wide; 
And,  deftly  weigh'd,  each  paddle-blade 

Like  velvet  stroked  the  tide. 
They  near'd  the  English  frigates. 

They  heard  their  sentries'  feet, 
They  heard  a  bell,  and  then  "All's  well" 

Re-echo'd  through  the  fleet. 
They  puU'd  around  a  guard-boat; 

They  struck  the  land,  and  then 
Filed  softly  out,  and  moved  about. 

Like  shadows  more  than  men. 

How  Barton  Took  the  General. 

ROYAL    RULE 

The  nobles,  while  their  winnings 

Like  nuggets  clog  the  sieve 
That  ours  drop  through,  would  not  eschew 
Their  royal  rule:    "To  others  do 

What  makes  them  humbly  live." 

Our  First  Break  with  the  British. 


330  A  POETS  CABINET 

RULES,  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN 

Oh,  something  surely  must  be  wrong 
When  that  which  rules  without  rules  not  within. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv,,  i. 

RULING 

That  cruel  mill 
Where  the  wheels  that  run  the  ruling  grind  to  dust 
the  people's  will. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxi. 

RULING  FOR  WOMEN  BY  MEN 

They  merely  yield  to  laws  of  nature  that  give  wives 
their  way,  not  through  demanding  but  desiring,  while, 
like  willing  slaves,  men  wait  on  their  desiring.  You 
know  I  think  that  only  when  some  woman  becomes  to 
him  a  source  of  love  can  man,  on  his  part,  represent 
true  love's  effects.  When  I  was  young,  men  had  more 
courtesy  than  now.  None  helped  themselves  to  any- 
thing before  they  helped  the  women ;  talked  when  they 
were  talking,  or  sat  down  when  they  were  standing;  or 
failed  to  be  their  champion,  if  their  lives  or  honor 
needed.  All  too  had  been  caused  by  men's,  not 
women's,  ruling.    Is  it  so  to-day?     I  fear  not. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

RUTS   FOR  ACTION 

On  earth,  our  souls  are  fastened  where  we  find  them. 
Our  bodies,  families,  lands  and  laws  are  frames  in 
which  we  squeeze  or  slip  to  failure  or  success.  What 
then?  One  thing,  at  least,  is  true.  If  heaven  have 
shaped  the  ruts  we  move  in  here,  they  move  the  best 
who  move  through  them. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  in.,  2. 

SACRIFICE 

....  I  spoke  of  sacrifice 

....  And  I  have  sacrificed  low  love  for  higher. 
....  You  call  that  sacrifice? 
....  What?      Is  it  not?— 

To  give  up  what  is  earthly  for  the  heavenly? — 
Turn  from  the  serpent  coiled  within  the  loins 
To  follow  in  the  flight  of  that  fair  dove 
Whose  wings  are  fluttering  within  the  heart? 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  331 

SACRIFICE,  THE  LAW  OF  SPIRITUAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Were  I  to  tell  you  that  the  realm 
In  which  the  gods  dwell  could  be  reached  by  you 
In  one  way  only, — in  the  self-same  way 
That  severs  in  the  temple  soul  from  form 
In  him  your  priests  and  people  choose  as  god? — 
....  Then  I  would  thank  the  force  that  severed  me 
From  all  that  could  weigh  down  a  soul  so  light 
That  but  for  them  it  might  soar  up  to  heaven. 

Idem,  v. 

SAILING 

"All  hands  aloft!"  he  cried; 
"All  sail!"  and  at  the  words, 
The  masts  were  fill'd  with  sailors  drill'd 
To  climb  and  cling  like  birds. 

Wide  flew  each  flapping  sheet, 
And  sagg'd  and  bagg'd  the  gale. 
And  cloud-like  lash'd  the  waves  that  dash'd 
As  if  they  felt  a  flail. 

Up  toss'd  her  canvas  high; 
And  dipp'd,  as  round  she  ran, 
The  saucy  way  that  seems  to  say 
Now  catch  me  if  you  can. 

The  Last  Cruise  of  the  Gaspee. 

SAINT 

Our  home  is  like  a  sick  bird's  nest. 
Whose  fellows'  beaks  all  pierce  its  breast. 
Strange  cure! — yet  't  is  an  old  complaint. 
That  much  of  love,  when  only  faint. 
Is  peckt  to  death  to  make  a  saint. 

*  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxvil. 

SAINTS 

You  act  like  saints  we  read  of  in  the  legends, 
With  holy  air  about  them.    As  you  enter, 
Our  thoughts  turn  toward  religion. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

SANGUINE    TEMPERAMENT,    THE 

Some  men  are  born  with  light,  aspiring  blood 
That,  bounding    brainward,  keeps  the  whole  frame 
glowing.  The  Aztec  God,  11. 


332  A  POET'S  CABINET 

SATISFIED    (see   discontent) 
Where  so  much  good  is  still  untried, 
Our  souls  must  all,  if  satisfied 
With  what  they  have  or  are,  abide 
Untaught,  unhonor'd,  and  unblest; 
For  but  to-day  what  is  is  best. 
The  morrow's  gain  is  all  possess'd 
By  those  who  journey  ere  they  rest. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xviii. 
If  earth  held  all  our  souls  could  wish,  no  soul 
Could  ever  wish  for  heaven. 

The  Aztec  God,  ii. 

SAXON 

Thus  Heaven,  where  hung  the  purpose 

A  grander  man  to  mould, 
Had  Saxon  hurl'd  on  Saxon, 

The  new  world  on  the  old. 

The  Rally  of  the  Farmers. 

SCALES,  BETWEEN  OUTWARD  AND  INWARD 

Why  are  the  scales 
That  measure  what  our  world  is  worth  so  poised 
Betwixt  the  outward  and  the  inward  life 
That  what  lifts  up  the  one  must  lower  the  other? 
Why,  when  we  reach  the  highest  earthly  place 
Must  this  be  balanced  by  the  spirit's  fall? 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

SCENT    AND    SENSE 

No  scent  is  keen  for  what  it  can  not  sense.  You 
think  a  hard  and  loveless  thing  like  her  could  sense  my 
simple  self  here  in  a  role  that  did  not  seem — say — 
unsophisticated?  The  Two  Paths,  ii. 

SCOLDING  THAT  IS  CHIRPING 

No;  do  not  rough  your  feathers.  When  a  bird  like 
you  flies  in  the  door,  it  need  not  sing  to  give  one  pleas- 
ure.   It  need  only  scold ;  for  when  it  scolds,  it  chirps. 

The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

SCOLDING  vs.  LOVE 

When  a  woman  blows  out  at  a  man  she  runs  about 
as  much  chance  of  not  uprooting  his  love  as  a  cyclone 
of  not  uprooting  a  twig  it  begins  to  twist. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  iv. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  333 

SCHOOLS,  FREE,  AND  THEIR  EFFECTS 

....  At  school,  sir,  he  has  mixed  with  others. 

....  Yes,  yes,  and,  in  a  way  not  true  in  our  old 
land  across  the  sea,  been  given  a  chance  to  go  with 
those  brought  up  in  our  most  cultured  homes,  and 
come  to  feel  and  act  as  they  do.  Our  schools  are 
schools  where  every  boy  can  learn  to  be  a  gentleman. 
That's  why  I  love  this  country,  yes,  despite  the  snob 
I've  seemed  to  be  who  couldn't  root  out  the  old  world's 
weeds.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  v. 

SCOTLAND 

But  who,  that  sought  historic  mounts  and  lakes, 

Traced  not  fair  Scotia's  image  o'er  the  wave. 
Toward  mounds  and  meads,  where  scarce  a  sunbeam 
breaks 

But  bounds  the  ground  to  star  a  patriot's  grave? 
Proud  land,  whose  knees  have  knelt  to  tyrants  never, 

Whose  clans  of  old  have  kept  their  children  free, 
Where  thrives  an  earnest  thought,  a  high  endeavor, 

That  would  not  take  delight,  when  face  to  face  with 
thee? 
Where  dwell  the  pure  who  would  not  praise  thy  name? 

Thy  wrong  at  home  precedence  gives  to  worth, 
And  though  in  thy  chill  clime  cold  greets  the  flame, 

Thy  light,  wherever  borne,  enlightens  earth. 
For  this  would  truth  forget  false  virtue's  features. — 

Awed  still  by  thoughts  of  hallow'd  Sabbath  noons, 
Ye  beggars  never  doff  the  cant  of  preachers ! 

Nor  squeeze  through  squeaking  bagpipes,  irreligious 
tunes ! 
But  who  could  here  note  all  a  stranger's  thought 

That  springs  to  crowd  each  path  where'er  he  turns, 
While  every  scene  with  new  suggestions  fraught 

Recalls  a  Scott  or  Wallace,  Bruce  or  Burns? 
He  delved  through  Bannockburn;  he  mounted  Stirling, 

Where  half-way  up  to  heaven  appear'd  his  view; 
Then,  coach-swept,  through  the  clifl-walled  Trossachs 

whirling 
Came  first  upon  Fitz-James,  and  then  on  Roderic  Dhu. 

Nor  did  a  force  that  seem'd  enchantment  fail 
To  draw  him  where  the  rills  of  Yarrow  gleam ; 


334  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Nor  did  an  echo  through  its  drowsy  vale 

Disturb  that  haunt  of  many  a  wizard-dream. 
And  not  a  tree  beside  its  bank  was  leaning, 

Nor  by  it  there  reclined  a  sheltering  rock, 
But  veil'd  for  him  a  poet's  mien  and  meaning, 

From  Newark's  birchen  bowers  to  bare  St.  Mary's 
Loch. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxxiv-xxxvii. 

SEA 

Yet  wrong  I  thee,  thou  wide  and  wave-swept  sea, 

And  tireless  wheels  that  whur  so  ceaselessly. 
I  wrong  the  skies  that,  bending  down  to  thee, 

Yet  fail  to  compass  thine  immensity. 
I  wrong  that  mighty  breast,  whose  endless  grieving 

Inspires  the  wild  response  of  sailors'  lays, 
That  bosom  where  omnipotence  is  breathing. 

And  wakes  in  distant  isles  the  heathen's  awe-struck 
praise. 
Tremendous  monarch  of  all  elements 

Whose  broad  arms  clasp  the  heavens,  their  only 
peer. 
What  age  of  wrong,  what  wail  of  turbulence 

First  hail'd  thee  tyrant  of  our  trembling  sphere? 
Who  bade  those  winds  arise  and  rouse  thy  laughter? 

Those  lightnings  flash  to  fret  thy  fitful  reign? 
That  menace  fierce  to  peal  in  thunder  after? 

Those  waves  to  howl  and  hiss  at  life  o'erwhelm'd 
and  slain? 

Say  power  of  dread,  is  it  thy  rage  or  joy 

That  hurls  confusion  o'er  the  vessel's  way. 
The  while  *t  is  toss'd  as  lightly  as  a  toy, 

Or  cliff-like  driven  to  sink  beneath  the  spray? 
Ah,  when  't  is  dash'd  along  the  dark  fog  under, 

No  eye  can  pierce  the  veil  of  instant  doom. 
Till  hidden  rock  or  ice  with  madden'd  wonder 

Roars  at  the  rising  foam, — man's  ghost-track  and  his 
tomb. 
No  human  skill  saves  here;  men  work,  men  weep. 

Why  shouldst  thou  care,  thou  omnipresent  sea? 
The  blasts  that  rave  and  clouds  that  round  thee  sweep 

Owe  substance,  breath,  existence, — all  to  thee. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  335 

They  gain  their  grandeur,  when  thy  waves  are  hoary; 
And  when,  worn  out,  their  wayward  might  would 
rest, 
No  rest  they  gain,  till  thou  with  pardoning  glory 
Dost  gather  all  again  on  thy  resentless  breast. 
Nor  when  fair  skies  or  shores  most  beauty  show, 

Can  they  outrival  thee,  O,  Lord-like  deep ! 
Within,  and  yet  not  of,  they  life  below. 

On  thy  calm  breast,  they  all  in  image  sleep ! 
Ay,  ay,  the  peace  that  follows  thy  restraining 

Of  storms  that  rage  to  vent  thy  wrath  sublime, 
Crowns  thee  victorious,  every  power  containing, 
Thou  God  in  miniature,  eternity  in  time. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xxv-xxix. 
SECRETiVENEss  {see  FRANK  and  frankness) 
We  men  who  think  have  duties  due  our  kind. 
One  duty  is,  to  block  their  finding  out 
What  are  our  thoughts.  Yes,  they  may  learn  too  much. 

Columbus,  III.,  2. 
The  truth  is  not  a  plaything  for  a  babe. 
Truth  is  a  gem,  and  sometimes  needs  encasing. 

Idem. 
I  had  a  dream — 
....  And  you  are  blamed  for  dreaming? 
....  No;  I  told  it. 

.  .  .  .  Another  Joseph ! — indiscreet,  I  see. 
You  should  have  known  we  all  at  heart  are  Tartars; 
And  value  most  the  beauty  of  the  spirit. 
When,  like  the  Tartar's  daughter,  it  is  veiled. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  I. 
SECTS  {see  church  unity,  and  unity) 
Long  will  sects  of  darker  ages,  darker  made  by  man's 

control, 
Clog  the  growth  of  aim  and  action,  save  the  form  and 
lose  the  soul.      A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxi. 
seduction 
....  Next  to  murder  there  is  no  sport  like  it. 
....  To  murder? 

....  Oh,  you  never  were  a  soldier? — killed  In- 
dians; or  southerner? — killed  niggers;  or  hunted  big 
game  in  the  West? — killed  bears?     You  know  the 


336  A  POET'S  CABINET 

consciousness  of  mastering  a  something  big  enough  to 
master  you,  and  all  the  risk  you  run — it  makes  you 
thrill;  and  feel  you  are  an  animal  all  over. 

On  Detective  Duty,  ii. 

SEE,  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  WHAT  WE 

Our  deeds  express  the  thought  suggested  by  the 
things  we  see.  The  Two  Paths,  ill. 

SEEMING  AND   BEING 

....  There  are  some  things  clear. 

....  And  some  things  only  seem  clear,  like  the 
water  inside  a  glass,  because  our  own  dull  sight  fails 
to  detect  the  microbes  peopling  it. 

The  Two  Paths,  i. 

SEGREGATION    OF    VICE    RESORTS 

....  So  you  would  shut  us  up? 

....  That  doesn't  follow.  A  cess-pool  is  a  nui- 
sance, but  has  uses.  It  catches  in  a  single  place,  and 
holds  what  might  be  dangerous,  if  distributed.  Be- 
sides, your  poor  policeman  needs  a  pond  where  he  can 
catch  what  he  is  fishing  for.     On  Detective  Duty,  ii. 

SELF 

O  could  some  Godlike  soul  look  through 
My  outward  life,  like  God,  and  view 
And  judge  my  soul,  with  judgment  true, 
By  what  I  am,  not  what  I  do; 
By  what  I  am,  not  where  I  stand. 
Which  souls  of  low,  short  sight  demand 
Before  they  dare  give  bow  or  hand! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  vii. 

SELFHOOD  AS  THE  OBJECT  OF  LOVE 

I  want  you;  and  you  are  what  you  are,  and  think  and 
plan.  You  are  my  sun,  my  source  of  light  and  life, 
and  I  your  satellite,  attending  you;  you  bless  me  most 
when  you  are  most  yourself.  The  Two  Paths,  i. 

SELF-CENTERED 

In  her  the  smile  that  brings  life  cheer, 
The  tone  that  faith  can  understand. 

The  phrase  that  makes  the  doubtful  clear. 
The  clasp  that  plights  the  helping  hand. 

The  sympathies  that  zest  infuse, 
The  ccmradeships  that  souls  ally, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  337 

Her  heart  has  never  thrilled  to  use, 
Her  head  has  never  planned  to  try. 

Her  Haughtiness. 
SELF-CONCEIT  {see  EGOTIST  and  themselves) 
....  He  is  a  very  interesting  man. 

....  You  think  so? 

....  To  himself.     When  all  one's  eyes 

And  ears  are  turned  like  his  on  his  own  person, 
He  bears  about  both  audience  and  actor. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 
self-confidence 
Had  I  but  more  self-confidence. 
The  men  who  give  me  such  offence 
Might  yield  ni}^  thought  more  reverence. 
When  foes  attempt  to  cow  their  zeal, 
Those  who  would  do  good  work  should  feel 
That  none  can  rightly  make  right  kneel. 
Some  men  have  manners  dignified 
By  nature;  others  learn  to  stride; 
But  others  still,  with  no  less  pride. 
Can  never  show  what  will  not  screen 
And  keep  their  inner  worth  unseen. 
The  brute  that  shakes  at  these  his  mane, 
Lets  fly  his  hoof,  nor  minds  their  pain, 
If  onl}''  whipp'd  from  his  disdain 
And  broken  once,  might  mind  the  rein. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  vi. 
self-conquest  {see  alone  and  lonely) 
Within  himself  when  fierce  the  fight  is  waged. 
Oh,  who  can  aid  the  purpose  thus  engaged! 
The  soul,  unheard,  in  darkness  and  alone, 
Can  never  share  a  contest  all  its  own. 
None  from  another's  practice  gains  in  skill, 
Or  grows  in  power  of  feeling,  thought,  or  will; 
None  with  another  goes  to  God  in  dreams 
To  seek  the  strength  that  his  lost  strength  redeems. 
What  coward  he,  then,  when  the  crisis  nears 
Who  cries  for  comrades,  nor  dare  face  his  fears! 
No  comrade's  arm  or  mail  can  ever  screen 
The  coming  conqueror  in  that  strife  unseen. 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 


338  A  POET'S  CABINET 

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS 

A  man  may  double  up  his  fist  and  frown, 
And  make  fiend-faces  merely  at  himself. 
....  Why  so? 

....  Because  that  self  asserts  itself; 

And  he  keeps  fighting  it  to  keep  it  down. 
....  That  self  must  then  be  very  strong. 
....  It  is— 

In  Dante.  Dante,  i.,  i. 

SELF-CONTROL  {see  IMPETUOUS  and  prohibition) 

Strong  self-control 
Has  never  yet  forsaken  man  or  clan 
Where  did  not  enter  the  control  of  others. 

Dante,  iii.,  2. 
Hold  friend — the  good  for  which  men  yearn 

Makes  ill  to  them  provoking; 
And  only  zeal  on  fire  to  burn 

First  fills  its  air  with  smoking. 
If  this  be  so,  some  day,  your  soul 

A  worth  world-wide  may  sunder 
From  those  who  have — their  self-control, 
But  nothing  to  keep  under. 

Nothing  to  Keep  Under. 
Ah,   self-control, 
The  rest  rheumatic  of  a  zest  grown  old. 
It  came  with  time;  but  mine  had  come  from  care. 
Cold  self-control,  the  curse  of  northern  climes, 
The  artful  despot  of  the  Arctic  heart, — 
Before  my  summer  scarce  had  warm'd  me  yet, 
Was  it  to  freeze  me  with  its  wintry  clutch 
Of  colorless  indifference?  chill  and  check 
The  springs  of  love  till  still'd  in  ice-like  death? 

Ideals  Made  Real,  Lix. 

SELF-CONTROL  AND  PERMANENCE  IN  PLEASURE 

Men  know  more  pleasures  than  the  brutes,  not  so? — 
but  why? — The  difference  lies  in  self-control.  Excite- 
ment makes  men  yield  this.  Say  they  drink : — a  single 
glass  may  set  their  thoughts  to  glowing ;  but  one  glass 
more — two  glasses — they  may  lose  both  senses  and 
sensation — wake  with  headaches,  and  sometimes  heart- 
aches; and  some  last  forever.         The  Two  Paths,  iv. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  339 

SELF-CONTROL  VS.  RIGHT  FEELING 

....  Like  plants,  our  natures  never  can  grow 
strong,  if  always  kept  inside  of  nurseries. 

....  Some  women  want  to  keep  us  all  there, 
always. 

....  What   they  were   made   to    live   in — nur- 
series! 

....  Yes,  what  a  man  conceives  that  he  must 
fight,  most  women  seem  to  think  that  they  must  fly 
from.  While  he  seeks  virtue  in  his  self-control,  they 
look  for  theirs  in  absence  of  its  need.  Their  aim  is  not 
like  his, — to  do  the  right  despite  wrong  feeling,  but  to 
feel  aright. 

....  And  in  their  habits  formed  by  following 
feeling  you  find  the  reason  why  a  fallen  woman  is 
harder  to  reform  than  fallen  man. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 

SELF-DECEPTION 

....  But  surely  there  are  some  occasions  when  the 
laws  within  are  all  we  need  for  guidance. 

....  And  yet  if  these  occasions  come  to  thoughts 
that  once  have  slipped  the  track  of  truthful  logic,  as 
now  I  fear  that  ours  have  done,  what  then? — We  risk 
a  wreck.  The  Two  Paths,  ill. 

An  eye,  made  dim,  may  facts  gainsay 
And  see,  in  fairest  forms  at  bay. 
But  lions  fierce  that  fill  the  way. 
When  dull  to  sounds,  a  man  may  fear 
And  take  the  rumbling  he  may  hear 
Within  his  own  disorder  *d  ear 
For  footsteps  of  advancing  strife. 
Whate'er  we  seek  or  shun  in  life, 
Too  often  we  ourselves  conjure 
The  direst  foes  its  veils  obscure. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxv. 

SELFISHNESS,  AS  A  GUIDE  TO  ACTION 

Mere  selfishness 
Has  been  enthroned  so  long  in  men's  affairs. 
That  naught  seems  worthy  of  respect  to  some 
Of  which  it  only  is  not  king  and  guide. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  2. 


340  A  POETS  CABINET 

SELF-INTEREST 

Some  minds  would  walk  and  some  would  fly.    You  fear 
That  those  that  fly  all  fail  to  leave  a  footprint? 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

SELF-KNOWLEDGE 

When  you  have  read  yourself,  you  may  be  heard 
When  trying  to  read  others.  Cecil  the  Seer,  I. 

SELF-MADE  MEN 

Yes,  all  made  men  are  self-made  men: 
We  ask  too  much  of  friendship  then: 
The  soul's  best  impulse,  in  the  end, 
Is  evermore  the  soul's  best  friend. 
And  when  truth's  whispers  all  pertain 
To  our  souls  only,  why  complain, 
Tho'  none  but  us  their  import  gain? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xvii. 

SELF-RELIANCE 

Well  for  those  who  kneel  in  youth. 
Self-reliance  tends  to  failure,  even  where  it  starts  with 
truth.  Idem,  Dreaming,  xxxviii. 

SELF-RESPECT,  A  MAN's  LOSING  IT  WITH  A  WOMAN 

The  worst  disrespect  that  a  man  can  show  a  woman 
is  to  lose,  in  her  presence,  his  own  self-respect.  Her 
influence  upon  his  nature  is  never  what  she  ought  to 
aim  for,  unless  she  is  appealing  to  him  as  an  ideal ;  and 
an  ideal  is  never  appealing  to  a  man,  except  as  it  is 
suggesting  to  him  ideas  that  are  his  best. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

SELF-RULE 

Oh,  would  some  power 
Could  tell  us  how  to  balance,  in  our  lives. 
The  rule  of  others  and  the  rule  of  self! 
How  can  we,  when  the  two  conflict,  serve  both? 
And  which  one  should  we  iserve? — which  first? — For 

me. 
Till  spirit  seem  no  more  than  matter  is, 
I  hold  it  that  which  rules  me  through  the  spirit. 

The  Aztec  God,  V. 

SELF-SACRIFICE 

Full  oft,  all  ease  denying. 
One's  only  gain  is  conscious  right, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  341 

One's  rest  comes  but  from  dying. 
But  once  a  prince  here  died  to  give 

His  own  good  spirit  to  us; 
And  good  for  which  we,  too,  would  live 
May  work  less  in  than  through  us. 

At  the  Parting  of  the  Ways. 
The  bugle  calls  the  hill  to  storm. 

IMy  body  thrills ! — I  use  it 
As  due  a  spirit's  uniform 

Used  best  by  those  who  lose  it.    Idem. 

SELF-SEEKING 

Everything  that  has  to  do  with  mind  or  soul  is  wrong 
that  involves  any  impoverishing  of  others  in  order  to 
enrich  oneself,  or  any  waiving  of  ideal  advantage  for 
all,  in  order  to  make  real  what  is  termed  practical 
success  for  a  few.  Fundamentals  in  Education. 

SELF-SURRENDER 

Ah,  loved  one,  not  the  dullest  nerve 

In  all  this  form  I  own 
But  would  be  thrill 'd  with  bliss  to  serve 

And  toil  for  thee  alone. 
So,  darling,  put  thy  hand  in  mine, 
And  let  me  hear  thee  call  me  thine. 
What  canst  thou  do  to  seem  more  dear? — 

Seem  more  to  own  me,  soul  and  form; 
Nor  think  they  e'er  can  be  too  near 

Thy  heart  that  love  keeps  warm. 
O  darling,  make  my  whole  life  be 
One  long  sweet  dream  of  pleasing  thee. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XLV 

SELF  THE  SOURCE  OF  MENTAL  CHANGE 

Where  did  you  find  these  notions? 

....  In  the  place  from  which  all  better  notions 
well,  I  think,  if  we  would  only  heed  them, — in  myself. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

SELF  vs.  SOCIAL  FOLLY 

Forgive  you? —     You  were  merely,  for  the  time 
being,  like  almost  everybody  else, — the  mouth-piece 
of  the  social  folly  of  the  world  about  3'-ou.    Now  you 
are  yourself;  and  in  this  there  is  nothing  to  forgive. 
The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  iv. 


342  A  POET'S  CABINET 

SENSATIONAL 

....  Does  that 

Make  preachers,  eh,  sensational?     You  should  know. 
.  .  .  .  You  think  sensations  are  acquired? 
....  I  know 

A  soul  that  squeals  well,  is  a  soul  well  squeezed. 
Sensation  is  the  step-son  of  depression. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 

SENSE  AND  SOUL  (see  soul) 

Ours  are  souls  that  oft 
We  strip  for  heaven  by  flinging  sense  to  hell. 

Sense  and  Soul. 

Unselfish,  all  ethereal  in  her  thought, 

A  disembodied  soul  had  held  less  moods 

Touch'd  through  the  senses.    One  had  sooner  snared 

With  tatter'd  nets  of  tow  a  wind  of  spring, 

Or  with  his  own  breath  warm'd  the  wintry  air. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxii. 

SENSE   AND   SPIRIT 

We  mortals  are  compounded 
Of  sense  below,  and  spirit  resting  on  it. 
If  sense  give  way,  no  wonder  spirit  falls. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 

SENSES  WITHOUT  SENSE 

To  see  is  not  to  think.  The  animals  all  see.  It 
seems  a  paradox,  and  yet  one  may  have  senses,  and 
but  little  sense.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  ii. 

SENSITIVE  {see  COURTING  and  susceptibility) 
Those  modest  plants  that  men  term  sensitive, 

If  unmolested,  show  no  morbid  traits. 
It  is  the  alien  touch  which  strangers  give 

That   shrinks    their  leaves   to   sharp  and   hostile 
states. 
Thus  find  we  often  shrinking  spirits  wearing 

Unfriendly  mail,  where  aught  their  trust  repels; 
But,  when  the  doubt  has  pass'd,  which  caused  this 
bearing. 
Of  what  a  genial  life  their  loving  welcome  tells ! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  x. 

What  drug  to  hearing  potu-ed  he  in  her  ear 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  343 

To  deaden  nerves  hereto  so  sensitive 
To  slightest  whispers  of  my  thrilHng  love 
That  hands,  voice,  lips,  and  eyelids,  all  her  frame 
Went  trembling  like  a  willow  in  a  wind? 

The  Aztec  God,  in. 

When  men's  misjudgments  thus  have  made  a  man 

Withdraw  from  them,  nor  longer  care  to  live. 
He  oft  is  forced,  as  if  by  nature's  plan, 

To  seek  new  friends,  who,  too,  are  sensitive. 
In  these,  perchance,  the  soul  may  find  its  brothers; 

With  these,  perchance,  can  life  again  seem  sweet. 
For  these,  in  seeking  charity  from  others. 

Have  gain'd  it,  too,  to  give  to  those  with  whom  they 
meet.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xi. 

My  nerves  are  sensitive  to  form  and  hue, 
A  little  flitting  of  the  two  but  serves 
To  irritate  and  make  me  itch  for  more. 
But  let  me  once  be  free  to  bound  and  whirl 
And  scratch  my  gaze  upon  them  in  the  dance, 
What  cures  me  will  not  scar  below  the  surface. 
Yes;  I  have  better  avenues  through  which 
These  outer  visions  reach  the  heart. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 

Oh,  who  is  he  that  shall  win  life's  prize? — 
He  may  be  the  least  in  his  comrades'  eyes. 
For  the  compass  that  saves  when  mysteries  throng 
Would  better  be  sensitive  first  than  strong. 
The  triumph  of  sinew  and  speed  are  brief; 
For  the  harbor  sought  is  dim  and  far, 
Past  many  a  bar, 
And  many  a  well  hid  reef.  Love  and  Life,  xi. 

You  and  I,  reader,  do  not  understand  a  sensitive 
man  if  we  always  attribute  his  actions  to  motives 
that  lie  within  the  sphere,  or  are  under  the  con- 
trol, of  intellect.  I  have  seen  a  child  stand  mute 
before  a  teacher  who  was  threatening  him,  and  make 
no  effort,  apparently,  to  recite  a  lesson  that  he  knew 
perfectly.  It  was  simply  a  physical  impossibility  for 
the  child  to  utter  a  syllable. 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  iii. 


344  A  POETS  CABINET 

SENTIMENTAL  WHIMS  DANGEROUS 

It  would  not  be  the  first  time  men  have  paid  in  blood 
the  price  of  an  experiment  in  courtesy.  No  microbes 
undermine  the  mind  like  sentimental  whims  that, 
when  they  move  inside  our  fancy,  make  us  think  them 
the  promptings  of  some  deep,  wise  inspiration. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  iii. 

SENTIMENTALITY 

Sentiment  and  sentimentality  seem  to  represent  the 
comparative  and  superlative  degrees  in  which  thought 
in  this  world  is  removed  from  sense. 

Art  and  Morals. 

SERPENTS,  PLAYING  WITH 

No  man  is  such  a  fool  as  he  who  thinks  to  keep  his 
own  soul  free  to  do  the  right,  yet  keep  in  touch  with 
those  embodying  the  serpent  traits  of  him  we  call  the 
devil.  Why,  all  they  live  for  is  to  crawl  and  coil;  and 
all  their  coils  are  wound  about  ourselves. 

The  Two  Paths,  li 

SERVICE,  AN  ANTIDOTE  FOR  TROUBLE 

....  When  the  child  of  our  brain  gives  us  trouble, 
we  must  send  him  out  into  service. 

....  You  mean  if  people  be  lazy  they  forget  them- 
selves the  most,  when  they  seem  surrounded  by  work. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  ii. 

SERVICE  OF  LOVE  {sce  LOVE) 

The  world  plays  tyrant  to  the  soul  would  serve  it. 

It  treats  him  like  a  female  relative 

Whose  drudgery  is  deemed  supremely  paid 

By  her  own  love.    But  when  the  wage  one  wants 

Is  not  within  one,  love  is  never  paid. 

Columbus,  II.,  I. 

Alas,  where  hate 

Is  a  normal  state. 
Who  serves  the  world  with  a  love  that  is  great 
Is  rated  a  foe  by  those  who  refuse  it, 
Nor  always  a  friend  by  those  who  use  it; 
For  he,  forsooth,  he  knew  of  their  need 
In  the  day  they  knew  not  how  to  succeed! 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  345 

SERVITUDE 

When  one's  inward  sense 
Of  mastership  outweighs  an  outward  show 
Of  servitude,  why,  one  but  serves  herself. 

Columbus^  II.,  I. 

SEWING   AND  ROMANCING 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  wheels  of  the  sewing  ma- 
chine were  alwa^^s  attached  to  the  machinery  of  the 
imagination.  The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  i. 

SEX  {see  woman) 

....  I  sometimes  think,  if  I  had  made  mankind, 
I  should  have  made  them  all  of  but  one  sex.  All  might 
be  women,  up  to  forty,  say ;  then — by  a  sort  of  tadpole- 
change — all  men. 

....  That  would  have  rid  life  of  two  nuisances, — ■ 
the  small  boy,  and  great  women. 

....  And  we  all,  before  we  got  through  living, 
would  have  had  the  same  experience. 

....  Oh,  yes,  I  see;  have  sung  soprano  first — and 
sung  it  well — and  then  sung  bass. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

SEX-DISCRIMINATION  NEEDED 

When  listening  to  a  foreign  opera,  and  both  the 
stars  upon  the  stage  begin  to  flush,  and  fisticate,  and 
make  a  noise,  no  matter  what  they  say,  you  fail  to  hear 
it;  you  wouldn't  understand  it,  if  you  could.  All  that 
3'-ou  care  to  know  of  it  is  this:  It  is  a  part — a  strong 
part — of  the  play.  The  sort  of  thing  that  I  have  just 
been  hearing  appears  to  me  the  very  strongest  part  of 
that  experiment  in  harmony — in  human — yes,  in- 
human, harmony —  on  which  you  all  seem  practicing 
out  here.  You  see  the  feature  of  the  plot  is  this :  The 
men  and  women  love  each  other  so,  they  both  think 
both  of  them  are  just  alike.  But  na,ture  never  made 
them  thus.  The  one  is  fatter  here,  the  other  leaner 
there:  but  when  the}^  mingle,  holding  all  in  common,  of 
course  they  put  on  one  another's  clothes.  The  clothes 
most  always  bag  or  pinch,  and  then  they  start  to 
howl  and  swear  at  one  another  because  all  seem  so 
meanly  selfish  when  they  all  want  clothes  that  merely 
fit  themselves.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 


346  A  POETS  CABINET 

SHADE 

Nothing  bright  can  come, 
But  brings  beside  it  something  in  the  shade. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 

SHADE  vs.  HEAVENLY  LIGHT 

There  were  no  shade  beside  a  thing  on  earth, 
If  heaven's  one  sun  were  central  over  all. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 

SHADOW,   A   WALKING 

The  sort  of  man  that  always  plays  the  walking 
shadow  to  some  woman;  and  all  he  seems  to  do  is 
done  by  her!  Tuitionjor  her  Intuition,  ill. 

SHADOWS 

....  High  noon  will  come  for  him  when  he  can  see 
A  form  like  that  one  shadowing  him  no  more. 
....  I  think  it  always  may  seem  noon  to  those 
Who  trample  all  their  shadows  underfoot 
As  he  does.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

My  shadow  might  shed  blackness  on  yourself. 
.  .  .  .  The  blackest  shadows  fall  from  brightest  forms. 

Dante,iii.,2. 

SHAME  FOR   MISRULE 

They  did  not  dare  to  kindle 

A  spark  that,  should  it  flame, 
Would  shed  no  glory  round  a  throne 
Where  prince  and  peer  would  flush  alone 

To  blush  for  their  own  shame. 

Our  First  Break  with  the  British. 

SHARING  LOVE  WITH  ANOTHER'S  LOVER 

And  then  I  learn'd — as  many  a  friend  has  learn'd — 
Who  with  them  strove  my  joy  for  them  to  share. 
How  much  more  joy  was  theirs,  when  theirs  alone. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lxii. 

SHARING  PROFITS  {see  WAGE) 

....  I  am  one  of  those  who  look  for  times  when 
all  will  take  more  joy  in  sharing  profits  than  in  storing 
them. 

....  A  long  way  off! 

....  I  hope  not.  It  would  be  so  pleasant — so 
much  more  pleasant  in  the  world — to  see  around  one 
everywhere  employees,  all  well  housed,  well  clothed, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  347 

well  fed,  well  educated!  When  men  learn  how 
pleasant  that  would  seem,  the  labor-problem  will  be 
solved. 

....  Yes,  when 

....  Oh,  men  will  learn  it  yet! — but  not  until 
both  your  employers  and  you  yourselves  have  learned 
to  think — and  so  to  trust  in  brain  instead  of  brawn. 
I  tell  you  mind  not  muscle  is  that  which  has  the 
strength  to  make  this  old  world  better;  and  by  mind 
I  mean  the  whole  mind, — thought  and  love  and  all 
that  lifts  above  the  brute,  and  gives  one  soul  and 
fellow-feeling.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  III.,  2. 

SHEEP  COMING  HOME 

....  I  like  to  watch  the  sheep  coming  home — a 
beautiful  sight!  At  first  you  notice  they  look  like  a 
low,  stone  fence  on  the  top  of  the  distant  hill;  and  then 
flock  on  till  the  whole  of  the  hill  is  gray  as  a  ledge  of 
marble;  but  when  nearer  they  look  like  a  wedge. 
Last  night  I  rode  out  on  a  donkey;  and,  when  I  had 
met  them  and  turned,  they  all  ran  sweeping  behind 
me,  like  the  white  and  spreading  train  of  a  long 
trailed  wedding  dress. 

....  It  is  not  the  first  time,  my  lady,  that  a 
donkey's  bridle  has  led  a  wedding  train  on  toward  a 
halter.  The  Ranch  Girl,  iii. 

SHIPS 

There  are  ships 

That  still  need  captains 

....  Could  one  see  their  sails 

Like  arms,  white-surpliced,  praying  heaven  for  wind. 
Yet  keep  his  prow  still  turned  away  from  that 
Which  he  had  vowed  to  heaven  that  he  would  seek? 

Columbus,  I.,  2. 

SHIRK 

To  work  off  whims, 
The  best  way,  say  they,  is  to  work  them  out ; 
One  hand  at  work  is  worth  ten  heads  that  shirk. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  XLix. 

SHOCKS    FROM    TRUTH 

I  and  all  my  truth 
Seem  like  champagne, — a  thing  that  pops  and  shocks, 


348  A  POET'S  CABINET 

But  yet  enlivens  when  the  hour  is  dull.    Idem,  lvi. 

SHOULD    BE 

Ah,  when  what  should  be  is, 
What  is  will  be  beyond  this  earth. 

Columbus f  II.,  I. 

SHOULDERS    SHRUGGED 

While  her  shoulders  gently  shrugg'd 
As  if  to  tempt  me  like  two  dainty  doors, 
Doors  all  but  swung  ajar  before  a  heart 
That  love  was  dared  to  enter! 

Ideals  Made  Real,  X. 

SHRIEKS 

Whose  piercing  shrieks  cut  through 
The  fitful  surgings  of  the  storm,  and  maim'd 
The  sever'd  thunder. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lxxvii. 

SIDES,    TWO 

What  you  moot 
May  show  two  sides.    A  man  may  be  run  down 
Amid  the  clash  and  clangor  of  a  street, 
Because  one  ear  is  deaf.    In  any  path, 
The  rush  of  life  may  run  down  all  who  hear 
But  on  one  side.  Cecil  the  Seer,  I. 

SIGH 

If  you  sigh'd 
Your  sigh  out  once,  it  to  the  winds  would  glide. 
Naught  Hke  an  airing  would  you  oust  a  moan ! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  XLV. 

SIGNALS 

Yet  hope  not  for  gleams  of  wisdom  lighting  all  life 

holds  in  store. 
Finite  souls  must  journey  onward,  learning  ever  more 

and  more. 
Only  signals  can  be  given ;  look  to  these ;  and,  by  and 

by, 
Through  the  pure  white  air  beyond  you  grander  views 

will  greet  the  eye.      Idem,  Dreaming,  xxxviii. 

SILENCE 

The  silence  of  the  good 
Damns  more  than  bad  men's  curses. 

Columbus,  II.,  I. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  349 

None  thought  on  shore  to  cheer  us, 

Though  all  had  waited  there; 
Their  silence  match'd  the  silence. 

Where  souls  have  flown  to  prayer. 
Their  silence  match'd  the  silence 

Of  war's  reserves,  whose  breath 
Is  hush'd  to  hear  the  order, 

That  orders  all  to  death. 
Their  silence  match'd  the  silence 

Of  heavens,  close  and  warm, 
Ere,  like  a  shell  incasing  hell, 

They  burst  and  free  a  storm. 
As  hush'd  as  on  a  Sabbath, 

The  people  homeward  went; 
Their  eyes  alone  transparent, 

To  show  their  souls'  content. 

The  Lebanon  Boys  in  Boston. 

SIMPLEST 

When  men  learn  all,  and  skies  that  dome  earth  here 
Roll  back  to  let  the  light  of  heaven  stream  through, 

Grand  truths  may  in  the  simplest  things  appear, 
In  outlines  which  before  all  mortals  knew. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Servings  Lxxxi. 

SIN  {see  crimes) 

But  even  with  sin 

May  rescue  begin, 

And  out  of  a  fall 

Come  the  safety  of  all, — 
Come  the  knowledge  of  good  as  well  as  of  bad ; 
With  the  knowledge  of  ill  from  the  shade  of  the  sad, 
The  knowledge  of  faith  which  alone  can  unite 
A  soul  to  the  Infinite  source  of  light. 

Love  and  Life,  lvi. 

In  natures  framed 
Of  spirit,  mind,  and  flesh,  the  cause  may  be 
Some  sin  that  clogs  the  current  of  the  soul ; 
But,  just  as  likely,  thought  that  puzzles  one; 
Yes,  yes,  or  indigestion,  nerves  diseased — 
No  trace  of  sin  whatever; — moods  cured  best 
By  sunshine,  clean  clothes,  larders  full,  good  cheer. 

Haydn,  xxxix. 


3S0  A  POET'S  CABINET 

SINGING 

Let  echoes  answer,  ringing 
To  that  which  lulls  the  babe  at  birth, 
And  voices  all  the  good  of  earth, 
Gives  God  His  glory,  heaven  its  worth — 

Eternal  sway  to  singing! 

A  Song  on  Singing. 

SIREN 

And  what  if  over  a  net  so  fair 

The  brightest  eyes  be  beaming? 
O  who  can  know  if  there 

A  friendly  light  be  gleaming; 
Or  one  like  a  torch  on  a  hostile  shore 
That  wreckers  are  waving  where  breakers  roar? 
Who  knows  if  the  tone  that  allures  his  choice 
Be  a  seraph's  or  only  a  siren's  voice, 
Which,  were  he  to  heed  it,  his  hope  would  be 
Far  safer  lured  to  the  stormiest  sea? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xviii. 

SITUATION,  RESULTING  FROM   ONe's    OWN   CHOICE 

A  man's  worst  situation  is  usually  a  site  of  his  own 
selection.  He  ventures  where  he  knows  that  there 
is  quicksand,  and,  after  that,  feels  never  free  to  make  a 
solitary  movement — never  sure  about  his  ground,  as 
people  say.  On  Detective  Duty,  iii. 

SKEPTIC 

As  long  as  one  thing  in  the  world  is  wrong, 
Some  skeptic  should  be  here  to  think  it  so. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 

SKILL 

Skill,  the  wage  of  duty 

In  the  Art  Museum. 

SKYLIGHTS,    EYES   ARE 

The  eyes  are  skylights  of  the  soul.  And  I  see  better 
things  for  you,  if  you  will  but  be  true  to  that  which 
dwells  within  you, — your  better  self;  and  what  it 
wishes,  let  it  do.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iii.,  2. 

SLEEPISHNESS    VS.  PERSISTENCE 

When  sleepy  most  men  fail  to  notice  things — the 
reason  why  mere  blunt  persistency  succeeds  on  Wall 
Street.    Men  have  been  tired  out.    They  sleep,  they 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  351 

dream;  and  we,  we  stock  their  dream;  they  take  our 
stock,  and  pay  us  for  our  pains.     The  Two  PathSy  iv. 

SLEEVES 

Waved  her  thanks, 
With  white  sleeves  fluttering  from  her  shapely  sides — 
Ah  me,  a  wing'd  one  sent  to  save  my  soul 
Had  scarcely  stirr'd  in  me  a  greater  joy. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xviil. 

SLOWNESS,   AND   SAFETY 

The  floods  that  rise  fast,  fall  fast.  If  you  wish  for 
safety,  slowness  is  more  safe  than  swiftness. 

The  Two  Paths,  11. 

SLOWNESS  AND  SURENESS 

Slowness  at  the  start  is  often  the  very  best  means  of 
securing  sureness  and  swiftness  at  the  finish.  It  takes 
much  longer  to  build  an  automobile  than  a  bicycle. 
But  after  the  first  has  been  prepared  for  its  work,  it 
can  go  much  faster  and  further. 

Fundamentals  in  Education. 

SLUR 

Stop  the  echo  after  you  have  heard  the  sound  that 
started  it,  then  perhaps  you  can  stop  a  slur  after  it  has 
left  the  throat  that  uttered  it. 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  vi. 

SMOKING  AND  YOUTH 

You  know  how  smoking  will  dry  the  blood  of  hams 
and  toughen  them?  It  does  the  same,  too,  with  the 
tender  brains  of  boys  and  girls.  You  wait  till  you  are 
older.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

SMOKING  (see  drinking) 

....  They  say  that  in  inebriate  asylums  they 
start  out  first  by  curing  smoking  habits. 

....  Of  coiu-se. 

....  And  earth  would  need  few  such  asylums  if  all 
should  start  to  keep  our  growing  boys — and  not  to 
say  our  girls — from  cigarettes. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 

smuggled  spirits  ARE  STRONG 

No  man  can  smuggle  spirits  in  a  keg.  The  little  of  it 
traveling  in  a  bottle  must  go  a  long  way.  So  it  must 
be  strong.  Idem,  ill. 


352  A  POET'S  CABINET 

SNAKE  (see  line) 
Back  slunk  their  line  before  us, 

A  weary,  wounded  snake: 
Up  hill,  down  dale,  round  river, 
It  wound  and  bled  and  brake. 

The  Rally  of  the  Farmers. 

SNEAK 

A  sneak,  like  a  snake,  never  moves  straight  for- 
ward. If  you  think  it  going  in  one  direction,  it  can 
prove  by  its  wiggling  that  it's  going  in  another.  It 
gets  on  all  the  same,  though. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  i. 

SNOB 

For  our  race  are  too  ready  to  turn  with  a  sneer 
From  arms  that  are  brawny,  and  hands  that  smear. 
While  a  man  is  dependent,  in  need  of  a  friend, 
The  world  is  a  snob,  and  shuns  its  ovv^n  peer. 
When  a  man  is  a  master,  his  need  at  an  end, 
The  world  is  a  sycophant,  cringing  to  cheer. 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 
Mean,  cowardly  souls,  whose  natures  feel 
That  they  were  born  to  cringe  and  kneel, 
And  heed  like  dogs  a  master's  heel, — 
They  show  a  due  respect  alone 
For  those  who  fill,  if  not  a  throne, 
At  least  a  station  o'er  their  own. 
So  must  one's  worth  that  these  despise 
Press  on  and  up,  until  it  rise 
And  reach  a  place  that  all  Vvdll  prize. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  vii. 

SNOBISHNESS 

Me  thought  you  know — 

....  What  right  had  you  to  think? 

And  if  we  know,  is  it  our  business 

To  do  your  errands  for  you? 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

SNUBBING 

....  One  can't  have  all  sorts  of  people  coming  to 
her  house. 

....  No  danger  of  that — with  some  of  the  other 
people  you  have  coming  here.    If  anybody  needs  to  be 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  353 

snubbed,  why  not  let  them  attend  to  the  matter? 
Why  foul  your  own  nest?  Leave  your  dirty  work,  as 
the  Turks  do  in  the  streets  of  Constantinople,  to  the 
dogs  that  delight  to  bark  and  bite. 

....  You  are  complimentary  to  our  guests. 

....  No;  truthful  and  sensible.  Let  those  that 
want  to  show  their  own  superiority  by  exhibiting  their 
ability  to  hurt  the  feelings,  if  not  the  fortunes,  of 
others,  hurt  one  another,  not  us. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

SOCIAL  ADVANCEMENT,  PERILS  OF 

If  made  a  member  of  our  family. 

He  might  prove  ours  in  all  things.     Few  have  brains 

Too  cool  and  clear  to  feel  a  rise  in  blood 

And  not  be  fevered  and  confused  by  it. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

SOCIAL  BETTERMENT,  AN  AIM   OF  RELIGION 

I  know  true  faith  that  largely  aims  to  rid 
Our  present  life  from  fears  of  future  ill. 
To  it  what  need  of  storms,  if  sunshine  here 
May  best  prepare  one  for  the  future  calm? 
That  future  is  eternal ;  even  so 
How  can  we  gauge  th'  eternal  save  by  time? 
How  can  we  judge  of  joy  that  will  not  end, 
Save  by  our  own,  if  ours  would  only  last? 
What  is  it  to  be  blessed,  if  not  this, — 
To  find  our  process  of  becoming  blest 
Made  permanent,  our  young  weak  wings  of  faith 
Full  fledged  and  flying  by  habit? — and  if  so. 
Heaven's  habits  are  form'd  here.    Suppose  a  youth, 
That,  by  and  by,  he  may  enjoy  much  wealth. 
Act  miserly, — what  gains  he  by  and  by? — 
Much  wealth,  perhaps;  but,  holding  with  it,  too, 
The  miser's  moods,  establish'd  now  as  traits. 
Incorporated  modes  of  all  his  life. 
He  with  them  holds  what  most  unfits  the  soul 
To  use  wealth,  or  enjoy  it.    So  on  earth 
When  avarice,  aim'd  for  heaven,  makes  man  a  monk, 
What  can  he  gain  thereby,  save  monkish  moods. 
Become  establish'd  in  him  now  as  traits. 
Incorporated  modes  of  all  his  life? 
33 


354  A  POETS  CABINET 

But,  holding  these,  the  soul  must  with  them  hold 
What  most  unfits  it  to  enjoy — not  here, 
In  any  sphere  at  all, — a  life  of  love. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  XLViii. 

SOCIAL  vs.  PERSONAL  SUCCESS 

....  Social  success. 

....  In  a  daughter,  I  should  care  more  for  per- 
sonal success. 

....  Same  thing! 

....  Oh,  no! — The  same  difference  that  there  is 
between  foreign  and  domestic.  One  depends  on  the 
state  outside,  the  other  on  the  state  inside.  A  woman 
is  happier,  I  think,  when  she  has  domestic  success. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

SOCIETY 

When  sad  from  self-satiety, 
Why  should  one  shun  society? — 
It  rouses  him  from  introspection. 
And  routs  his  dreams  of  drear  dejection. 
I  think,  as  pools,  whose  overflow 
Not  freely  off  through  earth  can  go, 
Will  breed  foul  mists,  that  reek  and  rise 
And  dim  the  earth  and  cloud  the  skies. 
Our  thoughts,  if  not  allow'd  to  flow 
Toward  others  freely — who  can  know? — 
With  vapory  whims  may  blear  the  mood, 
And  thus  deform  the  objects  view'd, 
And  half  the  light  of  life  exclude. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxv. 

Society  is  like  the  atmosphere : 
Is  always  round  us,  and  is  all  alike — 
All  warm  in  sunshine  and  all  chill  in  storm. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 

SOCIETY  AND  ARTIFICIALITY 

Where  true  love  is  the  treasure  to  be  sought, 
One  glimpse  of  nature  is  a  better  guide 
Than  all  the  forms  of  calculating  art 
That  ever  powdered  an  instinctive  flush, 
Or  rouged  pale  hate,  in  any  masquerade 
That  men  call  good  society. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 


Storms  of  swift  and  full  distress 

May  make  of  mind  a  wilderness, 

A  flood  of  anguish  bringing. 


See  page  358. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  355 

Ah,  in  our  good  society, 

(Where  things  that  gain  acceptancy 

Are  fashion's  phrases,  and  an  air 

Which,  caught  with  neither  thought  nor  care, 

Make  wits  and  fools  both  equal  there). 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxvill. 

SOCIETY,    AND    FOLLOWING    LEADERS 

....  It's  natural  I  should  want  to  see  you  fill  the 
place  in  life  that  I  have  gained  for  you. 

.  Yes,  but 

.  Don't  butt  at  sheep.    Your  father  means  to 
say  society  are  sheep  that  always  follow  leaders. 
.  Yes. 

.  And  so,  if  you  keep  near  the  leaders,  society 
will  follow  you. 

.  .  The  Smiths  are  just  as  good  as  we  are. 
.  .  Yes,  that  is  true;  but  are  they  better? 
.  .  We  ought  to  go  then  with  our  betters? — 
What  if  all  others  did  the  same? 

....  Well,  fortunately  for  the  few,  the  others 
usually  are  fools.  The  truth  is  others  look  at  you  in 
just  the  way  you  look  at  them.  Look  up  and  they 
look  up  to  you. 

....  Come,  come,  now  Uncle! — You  believe  all 
that?  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  11. 

SOCIETY,  FOREIGN,  VS.  AMERICAN 

....  You  wouldn't  have  thought  that  they  would 
introduce  such  a  man  into  American  society. 

....  Who  would  introduce  him? 

....  The  foreigners. 

....  Why  not?  You  can't  blame  them.  The 
Count  and  the  Baron  were  well  connected.  There  was 
no  mistake  or  misrepresentation.  Their  credentials 
were  correct. 

....  But  they  were  gamblers  who  came  here  to 
make  money ;  and  the  Count  to  marry  for  money. 

....  What  of  that?  He  made  no  secret  of  it. 
He  did  it  openly.  The  fact  that  a  man  spends  a  month 
or  two  at  Monte  Carlo  ever)''  year ;  and,  when  he  runs 
out  of  money,  marries  a  girl  who  has  it,  never  seems  to 
taboo  him  in  the  least  in  American  society.     A  few 


356  A  POET'S  CABINET 

years  ago  I  was  at  Aix-les-Bains.  Every  afternoon, 
at  the  Casino,  in  sight  of  everybody,  a  duke  sat  gam- 
bling behind  a  pile  of  gold  as  big  as  a  rat-trap.  At  his 
side  always  sat  a  painted  lady,  known  by  everybody  to 
be  his  mistress.  What  of  that?  Every  evening,  al- 
most without  exception,  he  was  dining,  usually  in  the 
very  next  room,  with  rich  Americans  who  were  in- 
variably scrupulously  careful  to  see  that  the  fact  was 
telegraphed  to  the  Paris  edition  of  the  New  York 
Herald.  It  was  quite  remarkable  what  pains  they 
would  take  to  let  all  the  world  know  in  what  kind  of 
society  they  were  going.  You  can't  blame  foreigners 
for  doing  what  they  can  to  assist  such  people  to  con- 
tinue to  go  in  the  same  society.  Why  should  they  not 
assist  them? — if  that  is  supposed  to  be  what  we 
Americans  want? 

....  You  mean  to  say  that  Europeans  have  no 
regard  for  character. 

....  Not  that,  no;  but  that  they  think — and 
rightly — that  our  people  have  no  regard  for  it.  When 
we  get  to  the  border  of  their  social  pool,  we  are  like 
children  on  the  banks  of  a  fishing  pond.  Anything 
with  scales  satisfies  the  children.  Anything  that  has  a 
scaly  glitter — and  often  the  more  scaly  the  better — ■ 
satisfies  us.  We  forget  that  the  pool  has  different  kinds 
of  occupants,  and  that  we  might  often  make  a  better 
haul  outside  of  it  than  in  it.       Where  Society  Leads,  in. 

SOCIETY,    SEGREGATING    INFLUENCE    OF 

The  sea  of  life  is  filled  with  countless  drops,  but  only 
those  that  rise  and  float  the  surface  where  dancing 
spray  leaps  flashing  into  sunlight  can  constitute 
society.  Its  life  is  never  of  the  many,  but  the  few; 
and  these  its  influence  mainly  weans  away  from 
common  sympathy  with  common  people; — makes 
even  men  hold  back  from  contact  with  these,  and  much 
more  women.  Why  should  they,  forsooth,  rub  robes, 
touch  hands,  with  dirt  and  soil? 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

SOCIETY,  TYRANNY  OF 

I  don't  object  to  it.  Why  should  I?  What  good 
would  that  do?     We  are  all  members  of  it,  and  have  to 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  357 

be.  I  object  merely  to  the  tyranny  of  society, — to  its 
crushing  out  individuality.  I  object  to  its  expecting 
everybody  to  become  its  slave. 

Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

SOCIETY  vs.   THE   INDIVIDUAL   AS  A   SOURCE   OF   GOOD 

The  truth  is  that  almost  everything  in  the  world  of 
pure  quality  and  permanent  value  has  its  source  in  the 
motives  and  opinions,  not  of  people  in  general,  but  of 
certain  people  in  particular.  In  human  as  in  vegetable 
life — in  the  leaf  and  flower,  for  instance — develop- 
ment— all  that  makes  for  progress  and  reform — is  a 
process  of  unfolding  that  which  comes  from  within 
the  individual.  This  is  the  natural  way,  and,  so  far 
as  one  can  judge  from  nature,  God's  way.  Society 
seeks  to  change  all  this, — to  dictate  from  without  not 
only  our  modes  of  dressing  and  addressing,  but  of 
thinking  and  feeling.  If  the  method  of  influencing 
the  mind  from  within  be  of  God,  that  which  seeks  to 
influence  it  from  without  is  more  likely  than  anything 
else  to  be  of  the  devil.  Idem. 

SOCIETY,  WHEN  IT  SHOULD  BE  DISREGARDED 

One  has  to  live  in  the  world  of  society.  But  even 
there  he  can  bear  about  with  him  a  consciousness  of 
living,  too,  in  another  world, — the  inner  world  of 
mind;  and  whenever  the  laws  of  the  two  worlds  con- 
flict— they  by  no  means  always  do — then  he  can 
remember  that  it  is  his  first  duty  to  obey  the  law  from 
within.  Idem. 

SOFT     MEN 

Men  half  done,  like  eggs 
Half  boiled,  are  very  soft.  I  much  prefer 
To  have  them  hard.  Dante,  I.,  i. 

SOIL 

A  little  black 
If  mixed  with  white,  may  soil  the  white  as  much 
As  all  black  would.  Idem,  i.,  2. 

SONGS  {see  music) 
A  shadeless  waste,  a  mist-hid  sea, 
Were  earth  that  knew  no  songs  of  glee; 
And  what  would  heaven  beyond  it  be 
If  anthems  ne'er  were  springing 


358  A  POET'S  CABINET 

From  voices  there,  where  funeral  knells 
Are  sweeter  far  than  marriage  bells 
To  love  call'd  hence  that  ever  dwells 
Within  the  sound  of  singing! 

A  Song  on  Singing. 

SONGS  AND  RIGHT 

How  oft,  of  old,  when  reign'd  the  wrong, 

And  rare  and  regal  rose  in  song, 

The  call  sublime  that  roused  the  strong 

From  hut  and  hamlet  springing, 
Like  avalanches  launch'd  in  might 
Where  thunder  shakes  an  Alpine  height, 
Resistless  down  its  path  of  white, 

Has  right  been  led  by  singing.  Idem. 

SORDID 

Life's  bright  paths  hold  a  sordid  fold, — 
Hold  men  like  cattle  bought  and  sold. 
Who  treat  each  sky-born  child  of  truth 
As  valiantly  as  bulls,  forsooth. 
That  goar,  and  tramp,  and  leave  to  moan 
Sweet  children  caught  in  pastures  lone. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xx. 

SORROW    AND    SINGING 

The  cares  may  come  that  track  success, 
Or  storms  of  swift  and  full  distress 
May  make  of  mind  a  wilderness, 

A  flood  of  anguish  bringing; 
The  sorrows  of  the  soul  will  rise. 
And  pour  their  woe  through  weeping  eyes, 
And  drain  at  last  the  source  of  sighs, 

When  hearts  o'erflow  in  singing. 

A  Song  on  Singing. 

SOUL  (see  sense  and  spirit) 
Is   the  soul  indeed   but  matter,   welded,   moulded, 

multiple, 
White  in  snow  and  green  in  sunshine,  by  the  storms 

dissolvable? 
Or  is  it  a  lingering  breath  that,  snared  to  work  these 

lobes  of  clay, 
Soon, like  air  that  shapes  the  wind-cloud,  passes  through 

it  and  away? —       A  Lifein Song:  Watching,  xxxi. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  359 

Warn  men  not  to  take 
Mere  earth  and  sky  for  that  one  priceless  jewel, 
The  soul,  that  they  encase.     With  care  for  it, 
The  men  who  keep  their  spirits  clean  and  clear 
From  touch  or  taint  of  selfishness  or  vice, 
May  oft  behold  in  depths  of  inner  life 
Which  nearest  lie  to  nature's  inner  life, 
The  image  and  the  presence  that  reveal 
The  power  and  purposes  that  are  divine. 

Dante,  III.,  2. 
What  is  the  use  of  our  learning, 

And  toiling  to  come  to  the  right, 
If  none  can  know  we  are  yearning 
To  lead  their  spirits  to  light? 

What  is  an  outward  attraction, 

What  is  a  power  to  control, 
If  men  through  the  guise  of  our  action 
See  nothing  of  God  in  the  soul? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  iv. 

He  dreams  of  destiny, 

His  whole  soul  in  his  work.     That  soul  speaks  out, 

And  like  a  sovereign.     Souls  are  sovereign  always. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 

Who  cares  to  doubt  the  tale,  when  told 

That  seers  with  second  seeing 
Behind  the  forms  that  all  behold 

Discern  a  spirit's  being? 

Past  curtains  keeping  souls  from  sight, 

Who  never  found  a  friend  there. 
Transfigured  by  a  purer  light 

Than  earthly  suns  could  send  there? 

Who  never  felt  an  impulse  true, 

A  better  self  within  him, 
A  spirit  yearning  to  break  through 

This  life  from  which  't  would  win  him. 

Look  through  his  frame  and  through  each  frame 

Of  those  about  who  love  him, 
Till  soul  met  soul  with  joy  the  same 

As  fills  the  heaven  above  him? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  viii. 


36o  A  POETS  CABINET 

Until  with  a  strange  and  thrill'd  surprise, 
I  had  found  what  look'd  through  her  own  deep  eyes, 
And  had  watch'd  Hke  gestures  from  God  the  grace 
Of  her  beckoning  form;  and  at  last  could  trace 

Through  coursing  hues  that  would  come  and  go 
Across  the  radiant  veil  of  her  face, 

The  shade  of  her  soul  as  it  moved  below. 

Idem,  XXII. 

SOUL  AND  SERVICE 

....  My  father's  maps 

....  Ay,  they  confirm  twice  over  all  my  plan — 
Not  they  alone,  but  your  directions  with  them. 
....  Mine?     {Sitting  with  one  hand  resting  on  the 

map.) 
....        Yes,  your  fingers  pointing  out  the  course. 
It  all  is  there,  just  there  beneath  your  hand. 
A  sailor  steers  the  way  his  compass  points. 
....  Is  that  your  compass? 
....  It  might  compass  me — 

I  mean  my  soul. 

....  That  little  hand?    Oh,  what 

A  little  soul! 

....  Do  souls  have  size?     One  might 

Be  uni versed  in  this;  yet  not  contained 
In  all  the  universe  outside  of  it. 
....  To  put  your  soul  thus  in  another's  hand, — 

Would  that  be  wise? 
....  Why  not? — the  hand  that  serves 
The  soul  one  loves  may  serve  but  selfishly, 
And  yet  serve  best  the  one  who  trusts  to  it. 
....  But  should  it  fetter  him? — 
.  .  .  .  Then  would  he  thrill 

In  every  atom  of  his  frame  to  feel 
Its  fingers'  throb  and  pressure. 
....  Would  not  bound 

Away? 

....  Away  and  up,  but  always  back  again, 
Like  grains  of  sand  in  earthquakes. 
....  Foolish  man! 

.  .  .  .  Why,  only  God  is  wholly  wise;  and  I 
Am  but  a  man — so  never  quite  so  manly 
As  when — why,  say — made  foolish.      Columbus,  i.,  2. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  361 

SOUL-LIFE,  THE  CONVERSE  OF  SENSE-LIFE 

Why  should  not  those  who  were  the  most  oppressed 
Have  most  that  serve  them  where  but  souls  are  served? 
All  things  inverted  and  turned  inside  out, 
The  last  in  station  may  become  the  first, 
The  lowly  lordlike  and  the  high  the  low, 
The  crown'd  the  chain'd,  the  crucified,  the  crown'd. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

SOUL-LIFE  THE  RESULT  OF  NATURAL  GROWTH 

There  are  no  vantage-platforms  for  the  soul  framed 
of  mere  outside  gettings,  like  the  logs  men  cut  and 
wedge  together.  Soul-life  grows ;  and  as  it  springs  in 
youth,  it  sprouts  in  age.  You  split  a  living  tree,  and 
splice  in  limbs  from  trees  around  it,  you  destroy  the 
whole.  The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

SOUL,  NECESSARY  FOR  GREAT  ENTERPRISES 

....  Any  man  who  sails 

Across  that  unknown  sea  must  have  far  more 
Than  enterprise,  experience,  caution,  skill, 
Knowledge  of  sail  and  compass,  wind  and  star. 
The  soul  must  be  embarked  upon  the  voyage 
With  aims  outreaching  all  that  but  concern 
The  narrow  limits  of  this  earthly  life. 
....  How  few  such  men!     Where  would  you  find 

your  crew? 
....  Wherever  minds  are  subject  to  ideas. 
....  And  where  is  that? — You  judge  men  by  yottr- 

self. 
....  I  would  not  dare  to  boast  such  difference, 
Or  so  humiliate  my  humanity, 
x^s  to  presume  it  possible  that  aims 
Inspiring  my  own  soul,  if  rightly  urged. 
Would  not  inspire,  too,  many  another. 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 

SOUL,    STATURE   OF   THE 

The  stature  of  the  soul  is  measured  by 
The  distance  of  its  outgrowth  over  earth. 

Dante,  iii.,  i. 

SOULS,  SUBORDINATED  TO  EARTH 

One 

Must  be  what  earth  has  made  him. 


362  A  POET'S  CABINET 

....  Let  me  die 

Before  I  learn  a  lesson  sad  as  that ! 
....  Wise  prayer !    Ay  it  is  mercy  lets  us  die 
Before  our  sotds  decay — makes  life  more  sweet 
To  those  who  have  to  live  it  with  us  here. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

SOULS,  THEIR  DEPTHS 

In  our  souls, 
Far  down  within,  are  depths,  like  sunken  seas, 
All  dark ! — yet  only  when  concealed  from  light 
And  from  the  face  of  love  they  else  might  image. 
And  my  soul — you  should  know  its  depths  to  know 
My  coming  joy.  Cecil  the  Seer,  in.,  i. 

SOULS,    WHEN   MADE   AGENTS   OF   EVIL 

If  what  the  priesthood  teach  us  be  the  truth, 
Ay,  if  the  gods  do  everything,  themselves. 
Why  should  they  smut  our  mortal  souls  to  stoke 
The  fuel  of  their  smoking  fires  on  earth? 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

SPARK  OF  GOOD 

Each  slightest  spark  of  good 

Flies  upward,  and  the  heaven  returns  it  where 

It  fires  the  most.  Ideals  Made  Real,  LXX. 

SPECIAL  PLEADER 

A  man  for  all  mankind : — 
No  special  pleader  for  a  special  class 
Whose  grasping  greed  crowds  out  the  general  good; — 
But  one  who  pleads  for  all  fair  rights  for  all. 

Idem,  Lxv. 

SPECULATION,  ENCOURAGING  FINANCIAL 

You  rushed  the  stock  upon  the  market,  like  a 
running  boy  that  trails  a  ruined  kite;  and  by  his 
running  keeps  it  mounting  higher.  There  comes  a 
time  that  boy  grows  tired  and  halts;  there  comes  a 
time  when  cheating  fails  to  cheat ;  there  comes  a  time 
when  fraud  must  go  to  jail.  The  Two  Paths,  ii. 

SPECULATION,  THEOLOGIC 

These  earthly  eyes  can  never  spy 
Beyond  where  heaven  has  hung  the  sky. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxxv. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  363 

SPEECH  {see  TALK  and  words) 
At  times,  I  have  found  no  need  of  speech. 

A  simple  wave  of  the  hand, 
A  shrug,  a  look,  so  far  would  reach 

That  her  soul  could  understand. 

Before  my  lips  had  time  to  frame 
The  feeling  that  sprang  to  thought. 

Up  out  of  her  own  fair  lips  there  came 
The  answer  my  soul  had  sought. 

I  have  learn'd  from  her  with  a  sweet  surprise 

How  few  are  the  words  they  need, 
Whose  dimples  and  wrinkles  of  cheeks  and  eyes 

Write  out  what  the  soul  can  read. 

Idem,  Loving,  x. 

SPIDER 

Think  how  a  spider  must  enjoy  its  web  when 
thrilling  with  the  misery  and  music  of  buzzing  flies 
that  it  has  caught!  Here  that?  A  rustling!  I  be- 
lieve her  coming  now.  The  Two  PathSy  11. 

SPIRIT,  THAT  OF  GOD  {see  CALL) 

Beneath  the  whir  of  worldly  strife, 

All  undisturb'd,  there  dwells  a  life 

That  feels  the  tender  infant-plea 

Of  something  grander  yet  to  be. 

There  winds  do  whisper,  waves  have  speech. 

And  shapes  and  shades  have  features  each 

That  friendly  to  the  soul  appear, 

And  bring  a  Spirit  subtly  near. 

And  make  the  truth  of  heaven  seem  clear. 

Perchance,  when  forced  to  gaze  away  • 

From  earth,  to  find  life's  perfect  day, 

A  soul  so  yearns  for  what  should  be  ■ 

That  God,  who  always  will  decree 

His  presence  where  men  bend  the  knee, 

Trails,  through  the  strange  unearthly  light, 

His  robes  that,  while  they  blind  the  sight, 

Yet  lure  men  onward  toward  the  right. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxxiii. 

Ministers,  I  ween. 
Urge  none  in  heathen  lands  to  choose  between 


364  A  POET'S  CABINET 

The  good  and  ill,  without  attesting  so 
That  God's  good  Spirit  strives  with  all  below. 

Idem,  Seeking,  xxviii. 

Might  not  He 
Whose  good  accepts  the  good  where'er  it  be, 
And  reads  the  inmost  motives  of  the  mind, 
In  "every  nation,  people,  kindred,"  find 
Thron'd  e'en  behind  the  idols  of  each  race, 
Ideals  that  human  art  could  not  make  base? 
How  sad  if  not!     This  world's  theology- 
Scarce  blows  a  trumpet  causing  piety 
To  kneel,  ere  out  from  opening  mystery 
Sweeps  forth,  full  mail'd,  the  world's  idolatry. 
It  is  not  he  of  heathen  name  alone 
"VVho  bows  his  knee  to  gilt  and  wood  and  stone. 
Where  live  the  souls  who  seek  God's  living  truth 
Whom  priest-craft   does  not  find,   and   praise,  for- 
sooth. 
Its  own  deeds,  which  it  claims  must  lead  the  way 
And  meditate  for  all  men  while  they  pray? 
Alas  for  man,  thus  made  to  look  to  man! — 
Just  charity  with  kindlier  eye  might  scan, 
Amid  Athenian  gods,  a  Socrates, 
Who  would  not  bow  in  spirit  e'en  to  these. 

Idem,  XXIX. 

SPIRIT,  THAT  OF  MAN   (see  TEMPERAMENT) 

They  will  have  done  your  spirit  so  much  honor, 
It  will  be  too  much  honored  for  this  body. 
....  You  mean  the  body  will  be  too  dishonored 
For  any  spirit  to  remain  in  it. 

....  Oh,  not  dishonored  ere  the  godship  leaves. — 
Then  what  does  flesh  devoid  of  god  deserve? 
....  Damnation,  if  devoid  of  godship  mean 
Devoid  of  spirit  to  defend  the  flesh. — 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

So  women  do  not  worship  those  they  marry. 
Not  after  they  have  married  them. 

Why  not? 
They  get  too  near  them. 

Humph!  but  that  depends 
On  what  one  means.     They  can  not  get  too  near 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  365 

To  any  one  in  spirit. 

.  .  .  .  What  is   that? 

.  .  .  .  That  in  us  which  has  least  of  body  in  it; 

And  yet,  Hke  fire,  may  glow  when  bodies  meet, 

And  make  one's  whole  life  luminous. 

Dante,  iii.,  i. 
One  fond  of  friends,  who  yet  sought  oft  by  choice 
In  soulless  forms  to  find  a  spirit's  face, 
In  wordless  tones  a  subtle  thought  to  trace. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  LVi. 

Next  to  honoring  the  holiest  spirit  one  ought  to 
honor  spirits  that  are  like  it.        On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

A  spirit's  best  is  always  done  just  where  its  love  has 
placed  it.  The  Two  Paths,  i. 

A  spirit's  measure  is  its  outlook.     Find 

A  man  horizoned  by  the  whole  broad  world 

Who  sees  it  all  in  all,  he  stands  a  son 

Of  God! — is  here  to  do  his  Father's  work; 

And  you  should  join  in  it,  or  not  join  him. 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 
He  seems  a  spirit  lured  to  gates  of  dawn 
That,  venturing  near  the  clouds  when  all  aflame, 
Had  been  snatched  up  within  their  ardent  arms 
And  borne  to  earth  with  all  their  glow  about  him. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

SPIRIT,  THAT  IN  A  MAN  WHICH  INSPIRES 

In  the  end 
As  the  beginning,  nothing  thrives  but  spirit. 
If  trusted,  it  survives  too,  every  time. 

Columbus,  I.,  I. 
Life  grows  here  like  a  tree  with  outer  branches 
Too  broad  for  any  handling,  but  with  trunk 
So  small  and  slender  that  a  single  hand 
Can  fix  its  destiny  for  earth  or  heaven. 
The  trunk  of  all  that  lives  is  in  the  spirit. 
But  find  the  hand  that  can  be  laid  on  that. 
You  find  what  brings  to  all  things  bloom  or  blight 

Dante,  11.,  i. 
O  could  we  in  our  misgivings  only  see  and  hear  once 
more 


366  A  POET'S  CABINET 

What  our  fathers  thought  so  bless'd  them,  when  the 

heavens  unclosed  of  yore; 
Ere  men's  eyes  intent  on  matter,  minding  not  what 

o'er  them  towers, 
Lost  their  spirit-sight,  if  not  their  right  to  know  and 

use  its  powers; 
Ere  men's  wits  were  ground  to  tools  more  sharp  than 

blades,  but  narrow  too, 
Plied  at  earth  our  day  makes  brighter  but  to  hide  the 

stars  from  view! 
Is  it  wise, — belief  so  bounded  as  to  let  three  hundred 

years 
Of  the  faith  of  half  of  Europe  give  the  lie  to  all  the 

seers? 
Is  it  wise, — the  mean  ideal,  whether  form'd  of  man  or 

God, 
Deeming  truth  in  all  religions  born  and  bred  in  con- 
scious fraud? 
Is  it  wise, — the  church,  assuming  mortals  once  could 

hear  and  see 
Sounds  and  shapes  from  realms  immortal,  but  that 

now  this  cannot  be? 
Is  it  wise, — the  coward  science,  which,  when  faith  its 

aid  requests, 
Frighten'd  still  by  Salem's  witches,  does  not  dare 

apply  its  tests? 
Witchcraft  probed,  might  burst  the  bubble  of  the 

world's  religious  frauds, — 
Showing  seers  themselves  deceived,   who   deem   all 

power  beyond  them  God's; 
And,  with  seers,  the  seers'  disciples,  who,  with  pride  of 

mind  and  will. 
Fix  belief,  prohibit  thought,  and  bid  the  truth,  for- 
sooth, stand  still. 
Powers  beyond  us  may  be  finite;  nor  can  ever  tell  or 

do 
Aught  that  frees  the  mind  that  heeds  them  from  its  need 

of  reason  too. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxxii. 

Why  differs  it,  though  they  may  rise  on  earth 
Impelled  through  emulation  to  enforce 
Their  wills  on  others ;  or  through  appetite 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  367 

May  fall,  and  yield  control  of  reason's  reins 

To  that  which  drives  them  on  to  lust  and  crime? — 

A  spirit  that  inspires  through  selfishness 

To  mean  success  or  failure,  equally 

May  vex  as  by  a  devil  made  incarnate 

Oneself  and  all  about  him. 

....  Poor  weak  man! 

....  Weak  ever — save  when  conscious  of  his  need. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 
spirit,  that  in  a  man  which  survives  death  {see 

receptivity) 
We  have  left  the  bounds  of  matter ;  here  are  burst  the 

prison  bars, 
Out  from  which,  with  powers  contracted  and  a  weary 

sense  of  strife. 
Souls,  like  convicts  through  their  grating,   steal  a 

luring  glimpse  of  life. 
Here  are  regions  where  the  spirit,  freed  from  fettering 

time  and  space. 
Wings    her    flight    through   scenes    eternal,    reading 

thought  as  face  reads  face. 
Here  the  good  reveal  their  goodness,  and  the  wise  their 

wisdom  show ; 
And  from  open  minds  about  them  souls  learn  all  that 
souls  can  know. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xiv. 
If  one's  own  spirit  tempt  not  astray, 
But  only  the  senses  it  fails  to  sway. 
Where  worth  is  judged  by  spirit,  I  dream 
That  some  prove  better  than  here  they  seem. 

The  Last  Home  Gathering. 
In  the  world  brains  mould  to  bodies,  but  across  its 

border-line 
Royal  minds  must  share  their  purple.     Slaves  with 
kings  become  divine. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xv. 
The  one  that  led  to  the  best  things  here 
Must  be  some  spirit  that  heaven  holds  dear. 

The  Last  Home  Gathering. 
....  Can  mortals  aid  immortals? 
....  Life  is  one. 


368  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Our  daily  deeds  bring  sweeter  dreams  at  night; 
And  sweeter  dreams  more  strength  for  daily  deeds. 
If  thought  may  pass  from  sphere  to  sphere,  why  not 
The  benefit  of  thought?  Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

SPIRIT    IN    NATURE 

How  vain  to  let  affections  all  go  forth 
To  things  material,  hard  and  heavy  foes, 
Whose  mission  is  to  fall  at  once  and  crush. 
Or,  through  long  labor,  wear  our  spirits  out! 
How  much  more  wise,  behind  the  shape,  to  seek 
The  substance,  and,  in  sympathy  with  it, 
Learn  of  the  life  that  never  was  created 
But  all  things  were  created  to  reveal ! 
Ah,  he  who  learns  of  this,  and  comes  to  live 
In  close  communion  with  it,  finds,  at  times, 
When  Nature  whom  he  loves  has  laid  aside 
Her  outer  guise  and  clasps  him  to  her  heart. 
That  there  are  mysteries,  not  vague  but  clear, 
Not  formless  but  concrete,  which,  it  must  be, 
That  those  alone  can  know,  or  have  a  right 
To  know,  who  always,  like  a  faithful  spouse. 
Have  kept  their  spirits  to  the  spirit  true. 

West  Mountain. 

SPIRITUAL,  THE,  VS.  THE  MATERIAL  (see  WORLDLINESS) 

Bound  down  to  petty  tasks,  more  useless  ye 

Than  ships  loosed  never  from  their  anchorage, 

Nor  sailed  to  ports  for  which  they  have  been  freighted. 

Oh,  think  ye  ends  that  souls  were  made  to  gain 

Were  ever  reached  by  one  who  never  breathed 

A  higher  air,  or  saw  a  higher  sight 

Than  those  on  which  contracted  brows  are  bent 

In  library  or  laboratory? — what? — 

Does  thought  grow  broader,  whittled  down  to  point 

At  microscopic  nuclei  of  dust, 

As  if  the  world  were  by,  not  with,  them  built? — 

As  if  the  game  of  true  success  were  played 

By  matching  parts  whose  wholes  are  curios? 

Nay,  nay!     Life's  greatest  gain  is  life  itself; 

And  life,  though  lived  in  matter,  is  not  of  it; 

Not  of  the  object  that  our  aims  pursue, 

Not  of  the  body  that  pursues  it,  not 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  369 

Of  all  the  world  of  which  itself  and  us 

Are  parts.     Nay,  all  things  that  the  eye  can  see 

Are  but  vague  shadows  of  reality 

Cast  on  a  frail  environment  of  cloud, — 

But  illustrations  of  a  general  trend 

Which  only  has  enduring  entity. 

And  is,  and  was,  and  always  must  be,  spirit. 

Berlin  Mountain. 

SPONGE,  ANIMAL  OR  HUMAN 

That  soft  thing  termed  a  sponge 
Will  always  hug  you,  when  in  touch  with  it. 
But  no  one  finds  the  least  impression  left 
When  you  are  not  in  touch  with  it. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

SPORT,  A  FINANCIAL 

....  Thetroubleis  that  you  are  not  a  sport — finan- 
cial sport,  I  mean. — Is  just  a  danger  that  sometime 
you  may  fail  to  play  the  game,  and  lose. 

....  I  have  too  much  imagination.  I  sometimes 
think  of — and  think  with,  I  fear — the  other  fellow. 

....  And  to  be  successful  in  business  a  man  should 
think  about  only  himself  and  his  own  interests. 

....  Yes,  yes — and  no — is  only  true  in  part.  Yet 
if  success  to  you  mean  sudden  gain,  and  great  gain, 
and  obtained  with  little  work,  you  may  be  right. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

SPRINGTIME 

The  time  of  year  it  was,  when  nature  seems 

In  mood  most  motherly,  with  every  breath 

Held  in  a  mild  suspense  above  a  world 

Of  just  born  babyhood,  when  tiny  leaves. 

Like  infant  fingers,  reach  to  drain  warm  dews 

From  palpitating  winds,  and  when  small  brooks 

Do  babble  much,  birds  chirp,  lambs  bleat,  and  then, 

While  all  around  is  one  sweet  nursery. 

Not  strange  it  seems  that  men  ape  childhood  too, 

And  lisp — ah  me ! — minute  the  syllables. 

Yet  still  too  coarse  for  love's  ethereal  sense ! 

Haydn,  ill. 

Who  feel  like  springing  in  the  Spring?  .  .  . 

Yet  all  life  may  spring  on  as  bodies  do 
24 


370  A  POET'S  CABINET 

That  draw  first  back,  or  down,  and  then  leap  up. 
To  feel  relax 'd,  perchance,  prepares  one  best 
To  leap  the  hedge  of  each  untested  year; 
First  action,  then  reaction — eh,  not  so? — 
And  think — The  same  may  form  the  law  of  souls : 
They    stoop,   then  rise;  they   kneel,  then  know  of 
heaven.  Idem,  iv. 

SPY,  A  MORAL 

What  need  that  I 
Play  spy  here  to  Monaska  and  Waloon? — 
Trail  like  a  reptile's  tail  to  prove  them  brutes, 
Where'er  the  love  goes,  which  but  proves  them  human? 
The  power  that  makes  a  man  who  would  stand  straight 
Prostrate  and  prostitute  his  nobler  nature. 
Sneak,  dodge,  crawl,  shadow  spirits  bright  as  theirs, 
May  come  from  gods,  but,  if  so,  they  have  lent 
This  part  of  their  dominion  to  a  devil. 

The  Aztec  God,  in. 

SQUEEZING  OUT  MONEY 

....  Last  night,  you  seemed  too  squeamish.  In 
a  broker  that  scarcely  does. 

....  He  should  not  squirm  but  squeeze; — and 
wring  the  water  on  his  customers?     The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

STAGE  AND  GALLERIES  (see  PULPIT  ) 

Did  you  ever  find 
That  ever,  when  the  seers  look  forth  through  heaven, 
They  view  there  pews  and  pulpits? — Nay,  not  so: 
Yet  oft  they  note  a  stage  and  galleries, 
All  throng'd  with  white-robed  hosts  attendant  there. 
So  these,  you  see,  at  times  may  hint  of  good. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxi. 

STAGE  OF  A  THEATER,  ALL  LIFE  IS 

Ay,  whether  we  may  march  our  frames  to  greet 
The  cannon's  mouth,  or  duty's  commoner  call, 
Go  where  death  threatens,  or  long  seems  to  tarry. 
One  destiny,  at  last,  awaits  us  all : 
Upon  life's  little  stage  the  play  will  close, 
The  curtain  drop,  and  leave  the  actor  dead. 
Yet,  soldiers,  what  care  you,  or  what  care  I? — 
The  souls  that  fight  for  truth,  beyond  scenes  here. 
Find  life  that  does  not  end  in  tragedy ; 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  371 

For  all  our  world  is  but  a  theater 
Outside  whose  walls,  where  shine  the  stars  of  heaven, 
The  actors  with  their  rdles  and  robes  laid  by- 
May  all  meet  smiling  in  the  open  air. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  2. 

STAKE  one's  all 

Better  to  stake  one's  all  on  some  high  cause 
And  lose,  than  never  know  the  spirit's  thrill 
When  gates  of  heaven  are  seen,  past  mortal  ill, 
Though  light  that  bursts  from  them  at  once  withdraws. 

Staking  All. 

STAR  PERFORMER 

....  But  I  must  practice  now. 

....  Hard  work? — Not  so? 

....  Oh  yes — down  here  .  .  .  but  higher  up, 
where  one  can  breathe  free  air,  and  be  a  star,  I  guess 
it's  easy  there  as  it  is  bright. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps j  v. 

STARS 

The  stars  like  sparks  that  linger  where  the  fire  of  sun- 
set dies.  A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  IL 

STARS,  MESSAGE  OF  THE 

I  believe, 
Though  hard  the  drill  that  trains  the  soul  to  read  it, 
That  every  message  of  the  stars  is  written 
In  letters  one  can  learn  to  spell  on  earth. 

Dante,  11.,  i. 

STATEMENT,   ONE    TEST   OF   ITS   TRUTH 

A  statement  that  confutes  a  general  faith. 
At  risk  of  reputation ;  yet  meantime 
Confirms  our  natural  reasoning,  seldom  lies. 
Who  would  have  said  this,  had  it  not  been  true? 
Yet  that  it  should  be,  what  more  natural? 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 
station,    troubles    of   exalted    (see   honors   in 
office) 
You  know  heads  crown'd  with  flowers 
Nod  most  for  bees  that  buzz  and  sting  about  them. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

STATUES 

Statues,  white  robed,  such  as  art  redeems 


372  A  POETS  CABINET 

From  the  fate  of  fellow-fancies,  when,  too  soon,  they 
die  in  dreams. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxxii. 

Shapes  were  there  of  every  kind 

Crystallized  to  forms  of  art  from  flooding  thoughts 
within  the  mind.  Idem. 

STORM :  ITS  APPROACH  {see  thunder) 
Off  through  the  wild  November  sky, 
A  storm,  was  it,  that  there  drew  nigh? 
Or  was  it  a  pall-car  of  the  dead 
With  crape-like  curtains  round  it  spread? 
And  oh,  was  a  death-doom  ever  due 
But  lives  that  were  sunny  before  it  flew? 
Heigh-ho,  heigh-ho,  as  the  thing  came  on, 
To  have  seen  the  hurry  and  scurry,  anon! 
Heigh-ho,  heigh-ho,  to  have  seen  the  way 
The  breezes  before  it  began  to  play ! — 
It  came  like  a  boy  who  whistles  first 
To  warn  of  his  form  that  shall  on  us  burst, 
As  if  nature  feared  to  jar  the  heart 
By  joys  too  suddenly  made  to  start. 
It  came  like  the  peck  on  the  blind  by  a  bird 
That  taps  for  help  when  a  hawk  is  heard; 
It  came  like  the  shot  of  the  pickets  of  rain 
When  sunshine  flies  from  a  window-pane. 
But  who  of  us  ever  can  judge  the  way 
A  storm  will  strike  from  its  first  felt  spray? 
The  walkers  without  soon  found  in  the  sleet 
A  net  that  was  tripping  their  floundering  feet, 
A  veil  that  was  falling  as  light  as  lace 
But  snapped  as  it  hit  each  stinging  face. 
Then  shattered  to  scatter  the  street  below 
With  hail-shot  followed  by  smoke  of  snow. 
The  snow,  it  followed  and  lay  like  soot 
Swept  down  from  realms  its  white  could  pollute. 
Or  was  it,  instead,  a  pure  rug  spread 
For  the  feet  that  came  in  that  car  of  the  dead? 
The  Last  Home  Gathering, 

strange 

So  very  strange 
It  seems  that  when  I  think  it  can  be  true, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  373 

I  pause  to  listen  for  the  morning  bells 

To  wake  me  from  a  dream.     Columbus,  v.,  2. 

STRANGE  IDEAS 

If  more  people  had  strange  ideas,  fewer  would  have 
wrong  ones.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

STRANGENESS 

If  strangeness  were  a  test  of  what  is  false, 
Most  things  that  are  believed  would  not  be  true. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

STRANGER    (see  ALONE) 

On  every  side,  I  see  the  stranger  smile, 
And  hear  anon  his  ringing  laughter  bound. 

I  heed  it,  as  within  some  chapel  aisle 

One  in  his  coffin  seal'd  might  hear  the  sound 
Of  his  own  burial  hymn,  when  it  had  drown'd 

His  last  faint  cry  of  "murder!"     He  were  blest 
To  have  those  friends  his  final  woe  surround. 

But  who  would  mourn  for  me?  my  soul's  unrest 

The  very  grave  might  shrink  from,  as  a  worrying 
guest.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xli. 

I  might  not  then  seem  whirl' d 

From  a  star  afar  in  space, 
A  stranger  into  a  stranger-world, 

To  seek  but  find  no  face 
To  tender  my  soul  a  welcome  home, 
Where  its  inward  wish  would  cease  to  roam. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xv. 

STREET  LAMPS 

Hung  high  above  this  crape-like  dusk  of  night, 
The  star-lights  flicker,  and,  with  star-like  light. 
The  street-lamps  ranged  in  order  round  me  glow. 
What  victor's  pall  was  ever  lighted  so? 

Midnight  in  a  City  Park. 

STRENGTH  VS.  SPIRIT 

And  that  would  bring  the  whole  our  city  needs, — 
Not  strength  so  much  to  fight  the  force  without 
But  spirit  to  unite  the  force  within. 

Dante,  11.,  i. 

STRIFE  AND   STORM 

Never  while  these  years  are  waiting  for  a  nobler  worth 
in  man, 


374  ^  POET'S  CABINET 

While  the  strife  for  life  continues,  does  the  dark  hide 

all  the  van. 
Howe'er  thickly  clouds  may  gather,  howe'er  fierce  the 

storm  may  be, 
Even  down  the  thunder's  pathway  trembles  light  by 

which  to  see.      A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  xxv. 

STRIKE,  A  LABOR 

It's  not  for  theft  we  strike  that  want  an  honest 
wage  for  honest  work.      The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  i. 

The  fools! — to  seek  for  favors  thus.  A  man  who's 
struck  at  will  strike  back.  Idem,  ii. 

STUPIDITY  (see  knaves) 

Ah,  next  to  deviltry,  the  devil  himself  likes  nothing 
better  than  stupidity.  The  Two  Paths,  i. 

STYLIST,    HIS    USE   OF   FORM 

We  all  admit  that  genius,  especially  literary  genius, 
is  characterized  by  brilliance.  A  brilliant  concen- 
trates at  a  single  point  all  the  light  of  all  the  horizon, 
and  from  thence  flashes  it  forth  intensified.  This  is 
precisely  the  way  in  which  a  brilliant  stylist  uses 
form.  In  describing  anything  in  nature,  he  selects 
that  which  is  typical  or  representative  of  the  whole, 
and  often  not  only  of  the  whole  substance  of  a  scene, 
but  even  of  its  atmosphere.  Art  and  Education. 

SUBTLETY,    BECAUSE   OF   SPIRITUALITY 

Deem  not  the  worthiest  art-work  wrought  by  those 
Whose  thoughts  and  aims  are  easiest  to  find. 
Full  oft  the  purpose  that  it  subtly  shows 
Will  long  elude  the  keenest  searching  mind; 
And,  sometimes,  not  before  this  life  shall  close 
Can  what  it  means  for  spirit  be  divined. 

The  Final  Verdict. 

SUCCEED 

And  oh,  how  many  and  many  a  tomb 
Of  a  dead  hope,  buried  and  left  in  gloom, 
Must  mark  the  path  of  the  man  whose  need 
Is  taught  through  failure  how  to  succeed! 
And  oft  how  long,  ere  he  know  of  this, 

Will  hard  work  doom 
His  heart  that  in  sympathy  seeks  for  bliss 
To  a  life  as  lone  as  death  in  a  tomb, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  375 

Where  sweetness  and  light 
Are  all  shut  out, 
Nor  a  flower  nor  a  bird 
Is  heeded  or  heard, 
Nor  often,  if  ever,  there  comes  a  sight 
Of  a  friend  who  cares  what  he  cares  about, 

Or  is  willing  to  soil 
A  finger  with  even  a  touch  of  his  toil ! 

Unveiling  the  Monument, 
Ah  me,  the  pilots  of  sure  success 
Sail  not  at  random,  nor  steer  by  guess. 
The  voyage  of  life  is  a  voyage  for  naught, 
If  souls  keep  not  to  one  thing  sought. 
And  never  forget  to  give  it  their  thought. 

Love  and  Life,  xi. 

What  seems  to  one  success,  to  others  may  mean 
mere  escape  from  failure.  The  Two  Paths,  i. 

Awake,  my  soul,  and  strain  each  power 
That  hints  of  effort.    Let  the  hour 
Of  sleep,  that  was,  watch  armor-clad; 
Calm  seem  a  pest;  contentment  mad; 
And  slander'd  patience  onward  press 
Till  steadfast  force  achieve  success. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  vii. 

SUCCESS,  DEPENDENT  ON  SELF 

I've  been  thinking,  lately,  that  success  may  not 
depend  upon  situations  as  much  as  on  ourselves;  not 
upon  conditions  as  much  as  on  the  way  in  which  we 
meet  and  master  them. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  iv. 

SUCCESS,    PROSPECT  OF 

No  man,  if  wise,  will  waive  from  what  he  plans 
The  prospect  of  success.    If  3'ou  attempt  it. 
Trust  me  to  thwart  you.      Cecil  the  Seer,  ill.,  2. 

SUCCESS,  THE  EARTHLY  SOURCE  OF 

The  power  that  crowns  one  with  success  on  earth 

Is  earthly.    Keen  men  know  this.    Not,  not  God: 

The  devil  rules  the  world. 

....  God  overrules  it. 

....  In  far  results,  but  in  the  near  ones  never! 

....  Then  look  to  far  results.     Transferring  there 


376  A  POET'S  CABINET 

These  transient  whims, — ah  you  will  find  them  melt, 
Like  summer  mist,  while,  rock-bound  under  them, 
Each  goal  remains  that  your  true  nature  craves, 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

SUGGESTIONS,  LITTLEST 

The  littlest  bird-track,  sometimes,  in  the  sand 
May  make  one  think  of  wings  flown  out  of  sight. 

Idem. 

SUGGESTIONS  OF  WHOLES    FROM    PARTS    {see  GENERAL 

and  parts) 

Meantime,  confined 
Where  only  finite  form  can  hint  of  what 
Inspires  formation,  many  souls  there  are — 
Oh,  may  I  join  them! — who,  in  all  things  earthly, 
Behold  what  evermore  transfigures  earth. 
No  scene  can  greet  them  but  it  brings  to  sight 
Far  less  than  to  suggestion ;  not  a  tone 
Whose  harmony  springs  not  from  overtones; 
And  not  a  partial  stir  but,  like  a  pulse. 
It  registers  what  heart-beat  moves  the  whole. 

Berlin  Mountain. 
This  world  contains  two  kinds  of  people,  Cino,— 
The  kind  who  see  the  whole  thing  in  its  parts, 
And  those  who  see  the  parts,  and  not  the  whole. 

Dante,  ill.,  i. 
SUITORS  {see  courting  and  flirt) 
Some  men  are  suitors  who  offer  their  hands 

Like  the  opening  palms 
Of  beggars  when  kneeling  and  asking  for  alms ; 
But  the  one  that  pays  heed 
They  clutch  in  their  greed. 
Turning  fingers  to  fists  and  prayers  to  commands. 

Love  and  Life,  xxxiil. 

SUNSET 

The  sun  has  touch'd  the  earth.    See  how  its  disk. 
Red-hot  against  the  river,  starts  the  mist, 
Like  steam,  to  drive  us  home.  Haydn,  iv. 

Then  I  turn'd  and  watch'd  the  sunset,  with  emotions 

vague  and  wild, 
Till  I  seem'd  a  thing  scarce  human,  strange  as  mys- 
tery's very  child. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  377 

Not  of  earth  nor  heaven  appear'd  I.    I  was  one  with 

that  mild  light, 
Which  had  veil'd  in  awe  the  hills  before  the  hush'd 

approach  of  night ; 
And  through  all  the  clouds  that  floated  rose  the  forms 

of  angels  fair, 
And  I  seem'd  to  heed  their  whispers  in  the  movements 

of  the  air. 
Far  adown  the  west  I  track'd  them,  till  there  met  my 

wondering  gaze 
Mountains  in  the  sky  that  fring'd  a  sky-set  sea  begirt 

with  haze, — 
Haze  from  shore-sand  bright  as  gold-dust  blown  to 

clouds  by  winds  of  noon; 
But  across  the  sea's  blue  depth  appear'd  to  sail  the 

crescent  moon. 
Scarce  I  saw  this,  when  beyond  it  I  descried  with 

pleasure  great 
Outlines  of  a  heavenly  port  illumed  as  for  a  heavenly 

fete. 
Ah,  how  wondrous  was  that  city,  rear'd  amid  the 

cloud-land  bright, 
Where  that  sunset  capt  the  climax  of  the  day's  com- 
pleted light. 
How  the  wall  that  coil'd  around  it  glow'd  along  its 

winding  way ! 
And  how  flash 'd  the  floods  of  flame  that  in  the  moat 

before  it  lay! 
What  though  underneath  their  splendor  stretch'd  a 

storm-cloud  black  and  long? 
'T  was  a  bass-note  held  beneath  that  sweeter  o'er  it 

made  the  song. 
For,  above,  as  if  aspiring  toward  the  heaven's  enkin- 
dled fires. 
Toward  the  sky  in  countless  numbers,  press'd  the 

domes  and  pierc'd  the  spires ; 
Domes,  high  arch'd,  with  tints  to  rival  rainbows  in 

their  every  hue, 
Join'd  with  spires  from  darkness  pushing,  till  their 

peaks  effulgent  grew; 
Spires  like  prayers  that  start  from  anguish,  aim'd  for 

where  all  blessings  are, 


378  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Spires  like  hope  that  falters  never  while  above  it 

shines  a  star. 
Then — and  how  my  gaze  profan'd  them! — what  re- 
treats for  bliss  appear'd 
In  those  fair  illumined  mansions  that  along  the  streets 

were  rear'd ! — 
Streets  like  shafts  of  light  far  shooting,  fading  like 

the  sun  from  view, 
Back  of  trees  with  leaves  like  autumn's,  when  life's 

fires  have  burned  them  through. 
In  my  soul  I  half  believed  I  longed  to  leave  this  earthly 

star, 
Gazing  like  the  seer  on  Pisgah,  toward  that  promised 

land  afar.       A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  iv  and  v. 

SUNSET,  THAT  OF  LIFE 

Life  I  watch,  like  one  at  sunset,  high  upon  some 

western  hill. 
Looking  eastward  while  the  sunbeams  with  their  light 

the  valleys  fill. 
He  beholds  a  world  of  beauty,  and  its  darkest  shade  is 

cast 
By  his  own  sun-girded  shadow,  stretching  o'er  it, 

vague  and  vast. 
Life  to  me  lies  like  his  view  there,  when  a  storm  has 

thunder'd  by, 
And  the  forests  flash  with  raindrops,  and  a  rainbow 

bends  on  high. 
Brightly  gleam  the  plains  below  him,  where  the  golden 

rivers  run; 
Brightly  glow  the  clouds  above  him,  where  in  glory 

sets  the  sun; 
And  he  knows  night's  curtain,  falling  o'er  the  little 

world  he  sees. 
Falls  away  from  heaven  to  show  there  worlds  of 

worlds  whose  light  it  frees. 
Thus  I  watch  the  earth  and  air,  and  find  that  age  like 

youth  is  bright. 
And  life's  eve  and  dawn,  like  day's,  are  flush'd  the 

most  with  heavenly  light.      Idem,  Watching,  i. 

SUPERFICIALITY   OF   THINKING 

How  many  people,  do  you  suppose,  look  beneath  the 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  379 

surface  of  anything?  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
most  men  would  start  out  to  walk  over  the  quicksands 
of  the  bottomless  pit  if  only  the  sun  should  happen  to 
strike  the  surface  so  as  to  make  it  seem,  for  the  time 
being,  a  little  bright.      What  Money  Can't  Buy,  iv. 

SUPERSTITION 

Who  loves  not,  where  all  shapes  and  sounds  we  test 

So  charm  us  by  the  mysteries  they  suggest, 

To  throw  aside,  or  strive  to  throw,  at  least, 

Beliefs  that  satisfy  our  times,  and  feast 

On  superstition,  and  half  credit  freaks 

With  which  fair  fancy  lured  those  dreamy  Greeks. 

Our  older  age  has  dropt  the  young  world's  joys, 

And  takes  life  earnestly ;  but  it  employs 

Its  ardor  too  much  like  an  o'ergrown  boy's, 

Whose  fist  and  arm  so  often  plied  in  strife 

But  show  his  brain  is  weak.    There  are  in  life 

Deep  truths  we  value  not.    We  rend  apart 

The  forms  of  nature,  but  have  little  heart 

To  prize  the  hints  to  thought  that  meet  our  view. 

And  we  forget  that  mysteries  too  are  true; 

And  we  forget  the  bourn  bej^^ond  the  blue; 

And  we  forget  about  the  silent  pall; 

And  faith,  which  only  holds  the  key  of  all. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  vi. 

SUPPLIANT 

Wise  men  do  not  greet 
A  suppliant  with  too  open  hand  and  heart. 
Did  gentleness  not  midwife  his  desires, 
His  cries  would  sooner  die  for  lack  of  nursing. 
And  so  I  think  they  best  refuse  requests 
Who  best  refuse  to  hear  them. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

SUPPOSING 

Almost  all  men's  failures  spring  from  supposing 
when  one  might  be  sure.  Do  you  suppose  your 
matches  are  put  out  before  you  lock  them  in  your 
writing  desk?  On  Detective  Duty,  III. 

SURE  {see  DUPLEX  and  love) 
O  stars  of  heaven  so  pure, 
O  buds  of  earth  so  sweet, 


38o  A  POET'S  CABINET 

What  souls  can  ever  be  sure, 

When  hues  Hke  yours  they  meet, 
That  they  move  to  aught  with  thrilling  breath 
Except  to  danger  and  to  death? 
O  maiden  eyes  more  pure, 

O  rose-red  lips  more  sweet, 
What  hearts  can  ever  be  sure 

That  thrill  with  you  to  meet, 
That  aught  awaits  the  panting  breath 
That  does  not  lure  true  love  to  death? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxv. 

SURPRISING  BY  THOUGHTS 

Those   who   suppress   their   thoughts   for   fear   of 
surprising  others  seldom  speak  the  truth. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  iii. 
SURROUNDINGS  (see  association) 
Thisisaworld  where  we  must  judge  of  most  things,  as 
of  souls,  by  their  surroundings.        The  Two  Paths,  i. 
Souls  make  their  own  surroundings,  moving  on 
Through  lights  and  shadows  by  their  presence  cast; 
And  paths,  with  these  all  gone,  seem  changed  anon, 
When  seen  by  those  who  trod  them  in  the  past. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  i. 
For  on  this  voyage  of  life,  not  seas  alone, 
But  skies — all  things  about  us — mirror  back 
The  souls  that  they  surround.    With  each  to  him 
That  hath,  is  given  back  more  of  what  he  hath: 
One  smiles  at  aught,  it  gives  him  back  a  smile; 
He  frowns,  it  gives  a  frown;  he  looks  with  love, 
He  finds  love;  but  without  love,  none  can  find  it. 
Alas,  that  men  should  think  one  secret  fault 
Can  hide  itself.    Their  sin  will  find  them  out. 
Before,  behind,  from  every  quarter  flash 
Their  moods  reflected.    Let  them  tell  the  tale, 
Nay,  let  them  whisper,  glance,  or  shrug  one  hint 
Of  what  they  find  in  earth  about,  and  lo! 
In  this,  their  tale  of  it,  all  read  their  own. 

Haydn,  xv. 

SURROUNDINGS,  INFLUENCE  OF,  ON  THOUGHT 

Oh,  does  it  profit  naught  that  one  should  dwell 
Amid  surroundings  that  no  eyes  can  see 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  381 

Save  as  they  look  above,  no  feet  can  leave, 
To  seek  the  outer  world,  save  as  they  climb? 
Where  every  prospect  homes  itself  on  high. 
And  each  horizon  seems  a  haunt  of  heaven? 

Greylock. 
As  long  as  thinking  can  be  shaped  by  things. 
And  that  which  holds  our  life  can  mold  our  love. 

Idem. 
Susceptibility  {see  sensitive.) 
His  mien,  like  water,  imaged  life  around  it; 

And,  chang'd  by  each  new-comer's  wish  or  whim, 
A  mirror  to  reflect  whatever  found  it, 

A  man  could  read  some  men  through  what  they 
saw  in  him.         A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  iii. 
No  doubt,  in  youth 
There  were  times  when  the  joy  in  his  heart  overran 
At  a  smile  from  one  who  knew  him  in  truth; 
There  were  times,  years  later,  when  merely  a  tear 
From  a  grateful  eye 
Would  have  seem'd  more  dear 
Than  all  the  glitter  that  gold  could  buy; 
But,  alas!  in  age,  when  character  stands 
As  fix'd  as  yon  monument,  then  it  demands. 
Ere  aught  can  move  it,  far  more,  far  more 
Than  the  cheer  or  the  sigh  that  had  stirr'd  it  of  yore. 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 

SUSCEPTIBILITY  AND  COURAGE 

Genuine  susceptibility  is  the  condition  of  all  true 
courage.  Suggestions  jot  the  Spiritual  Life,  xvi. 

SUSCEPTIBILITY,  WOMAN's 

Why,  what  were  woman's  nature,  void  of  fine 

Susceptibility  on  edge  to  play 

Society's  deft  weather-vane? 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 
SWEET  {see  HARMONY  a7id  music) 
Sweet  it  was  as  if  the  heavens  would  all  their  sweet 

store  shower  below ; 
And  by  one  flood  quench  forever  all  the  thirst  of 

mortal  woe; 
And  my  moods  were  swept  before  it  in  a  spell  resistless 

bound. 


382  A  POET'S  CABINET 

As  a  sailor,  sinking  softly,  where  the  deep  sea  laps  him 

round. 
But    can  I   recall  the   song   now? — Better  bid   yon 

meadow  nook 
Hold  the  whole  great  rain  that  blest  it  on  its  journey 

down  the  brook. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming^  viii. 

SWEETHEART,  HOW  TO  JUDGE  A 

No  man  of  us  knows  a  sweetheart  until   he  has 
heard  and  seen  her  when  not  on  her  guard. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

SWINE 

Cook  soup  for  swine! 
They  leave  you,  if  they  fail  to  find  it  swill; 
Or  else,  in  greed  to  get  it,  trip  and  tramp  you. 
They  harm  you  for  your  help ;  and  still  stay  swine, 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

SWORD 

Who,  when  arbitration  once  has  been  submitted  to 

the  sword. 
Dare  or  care  to  shield  the  wrong  from  shot  and  shell 

against  it  pour'd? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  iii. 

SWORD  AND  SENSE 

....  Now  by  my  sword ! 

.  .  .  .  Nay,  nay;  but  by  your  sense. 

What  fevers  both  of  you  is  no  disease 

That  can  be  cured  by  surgery. 

....  By  what  then? 

....  By  stimulants.    Accurse  to  cutting  down, 

When  one  can  gulp  down!     Save  your  health  for  me, 

And,  while  you  sheathe  your  swords,  pledge  gratitude 

For  such  delicious  ways  of  sheathing  spirits. 

Dante,  I.,   i. 
SYMPATHY  {see  REGARD  and  words) 
Our  human  thought,  whose  efforts,  aim'd  afar, 
Have  learn'd  so  much  of  sun  and  moon  and  star, — 
'T  is  time  it  tell  us  mortals  what  we  are. 
'T  is  time  our  wandering  world's  philosophy 
Discern  life's  inward  bond  of  unity, — 
Not  like  the  Greek  in  mere  material  fire, 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  383 

But  in  the  soul's  unquenchable  desire. 

'T  is  time  it  weigh  the  worth  of  arguments, 

That  treat  each  consciousness  with  reverence; 

And,  starting  with  the  soul's  first  certainty. 

Evolve  in  all  its  order'd  symmetry 

The  universal  law  of  sympathy. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  LV. 
Not  long  a  philosophic,  loving  mind 

Can  well  endure  all  dearth  of  sympathy. 
To  seek  this  kindly,  and  yet  fail  to  find. 
Makes  lack  of  welcome  seem  hostility. 

Idem,  Serving,  viii. 
Like  a  lake. 
Whose  fogs  unfold,  when  comes  a  genial  sun, 
Her  moods  unfolded  to  my  sympathy ; 
And,  brightly  imaged  in  her  nature's  depths, 
I  seem'd,  at  every  turn,  to  face  my  own. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xix. 
Nor  therefore  view  with  heartless  unconcern 

Each  special  aim  of  manhood's  general  dust; 
But  fan  each  spark  of  ardor  that  may  burn 

In  breasts  that  in  their  own  soul's  calling  trust. 
For  though  to  reach  their  goals  men  from  us  sever, 
Why,  in  their  hearts,  may  not  heave  ceaselessly, 
As  in  our  own,  an  endless  want  that  never 

Can  free  those  from  ourselves  who  need  our  sym- 
pathy. A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxvii. 
So  new  to  me  such  views  were,  that  I  felt 
As  thrill'd  as  feels  the  savage  maid,  when  first 
She  finds  her  own  face  in  a  stranger's  glass. 
Then  spell-bound  lingers,  learning  of  herself. 
So  wrapt,  my  wonder  hung,  all  wistfully. 
About  that  spirit  bright.    What  meant  it  all? 
I  could  not  then  believe, — I  scout  it  yet, — 
That  mortals  can  afford  to  slight  the  souls 
Reflecting  theirs,  who  make  them  mind  themselves 
And  prize  the  good  they  own,  and  dread  the  ill. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xix. 
Oh  what  a  world  is  this  for  souls  to  live  in ! — 
For  spirits  whose  one  deepest  wish  it  is 
To  think  at  one  with  others  like  themselves, 


384  A  POET'S  CABINET 

And  all  together  think  one  thought  of  God! 
But  here  one  knows  no  wishes  not  imprisoned 
Where  all  the  implements  to  set  him  free 
Are  but  these  clumsy  tools  of  breath  and  brawn. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

SYMPATHY  IN  SORROW 

Our  sorrows  are  half  lifted  when  the  souls 
Of  our  true  friends  have  come  to  bear  them  with  us. 

Idem,  II.,  I. 

SYMPATHY,    INDIVIDUAL   NOT   COMMUNAL 

When  the  heart 
Sinks  deep  as  mine,  touch  deft  enough  to  reach  it 
Requires  a  single  hand,  not  many. 

Idem,  I.,  2. 

SYMPATHY,  LACK  OF 

....  Poor,  lonely  man! 

....  His  own  fault — would  not  have 

A  soul  go  with  him. 

....  Why  should  he?    To  minds 

In  which  the  spirit  so  subdues  the  sense, 

A  lack  of  sympathy  itself  is  absence. 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 

SYMPATHY,  RECEIVED  WHERE  GIVEN 

Nor  long  was  it  ere  I  had  grown  to  share 
In  all  the  love  of  all  with  whom  I  met; 
And  oft,  too,  thus  invoking  sympathy. 
My  wishes  wrought  like  witches,  and  conjured 
The  thing  they  wish'd  for:  sympathy  would  come. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xliv. 

SYMPATHY,    WHEN   MERELY    SUPERFICIAL 

We  all  should  sympathize.     All  own  one  lord; 
All  wait  beside  one  shore;  all  watch  one  tide. — 
So  too  do  snipes  and  snails!  and  so  do  souls 
That  j^'et  shall  rule  in  heaven  ten  towns  and  one. 
Souls  differ,  .  .  .  John  from  James,  as  well 
As  both  from  Judas. — Judas  lingers  too. 

Idem,  XLVii. 
When  hearts  hold  secrets,  even  love  that  comes, 
And  comes  in  crowds,  will  bring  the  prying  soul 
Full  drive  to  spring  them  open.    How  I  shrank 
To  meet  with  those  with  whom  my  soul  could  find 


Woman's  grief, 
If  there  be  any  manhood  left  in  liim, 
Will  rouse  his  efforts  to  bespeak  her  peace. 

See  page  426. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  385 

No  sotirce  of  sympathy,  but  parrot-sounds 

Produced  when  tongue  and  teeth  and  lips  combine 

To  mouth  one  shibboleth!    A  fate  like  this 

Foretoken'd  only,  made  me  wellnigh  faint 

As  feels  a  soldier,  falling  at  his  post. 

With  heart  shell'd  out  and  emptied  of  the  soul. 

Idem,  XL VI. 

TABLE,  DINING 

.  .  .  I'll  call  you  when  the  table's  ready.  Poor 
thing,  with  twice  as  many  feet  as  you  have,  it  can't 
walk  up  stairs. 

....  It  must  be  very  full. 

....  It  will  be.  You'll  find  it  something  like  a 
pigeon,  a  better  carrier  than  a  walker;  and  you  can 
pluck  it  all  you  wish.      The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

TACT  {see  device) 
O  how  oft  when  stirr'd  to  rescue  those  we  love  from 

threaten'd  woe, 
And  to  point  them  toward  the  pathways,  where  in 

safety  men  may  go. 
Our  own  lack  of  tact  or  temper  has  equipt  advice 

amiss. 
Frail  as  truth  that  veils  its  features  in  the  guise  of 
prejudice.  A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  ix. 

The  very  pack  of  howling  sea  winds  loosed  to  drive 
the  skilful  pilot  from  his  course  he  harnesses  to  his  own 
purposes  by  turning,  twisting,  bracing,  while  he  3aelds, 
— by  not  attacking  what  he  thwarts,  but  tacking. 
So,  too,  a  man  can  meet  opposing  forces  with  what  the 
world  terms  tact.  The  Two  Paths,  i. 

TALK  vs.  ACTION  {see  DEEDS  and  words) 

Oh,  to  talk  the  truth 
Is  easy  as  to  breathe.    To  live  the  truth. 
And,  mailed  in  its  pure  radiance,  burn  to  black 
The  shade  its  white  heat  severs,  needs  a  strength 
To  suffer  hatred  and  inspire  to  love. 
Half  hell's,  half  heaven's,  and  wholly  Christ's. 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 

TALK,  EMOTIONAL 

The  worst  disease  I  know  of  is  the  one  that  breaks 
out  in  these  running  sores  of  talk ;  and  most  contagious 

25 


386  A  POET'S  CABINET 

too.  Its  victims  think  they  always  must  express  their 
sentiments — not  facts  pale  white,  but  ruddy  with 
emotion;  and  human  beings  are  like  bulls — you  wave 
a  little  red  at  them,  or  let  them  see  what  brings  a  red 
flush  on  yourself,  they  fight. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

TALKATIVENESS 

Some  people's  ears  and  throats  are  so  near  together 
that  when  you  tickle  the  one  you  are  sure  to  hear 
from  the  other.  What  Money  Can't  Buy,  ii. 

TALKING  AND  THINKING 

Most  men's  thoughts  are  led,  you  know, 

In  trains  of  their  own  talking.    Talk  them  down. 

They  lose  their  leader.    Keep  on  talking  then. 

They  find  in  you  another.    Any  sound 

You  choose  to  make,  they  take  for  sense.     Why  not? 

That  course  has  grown  to  be  their  habit. 

Columbus,  III.,  2. 

TALKING  vs.  THINKING 

....  With  all  their  talk,  one  might  suppose  them 
thinking  now. 

....  Oh,  no ;  the  parrots  talk,  and  men  may  make 
most  noise  because,  like  engines  letting  off  their  steam, 
their  minds  are  not  at  work. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

TASTE 

No  fish  are  drawn 
Except  by  hooks  first  baited  to  their  taste. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

TASTES 

These  dainty  despots  of  desire,  our  tastes 
The  worst  of  tyrants  are;  nor  brook  offense. 

Haydn,  XXII. 

TEACHER,  THE 

The  autocrat's  pride  in  his  haughtier  train, 
The  miser's  clutch  for  the  glut  of  his  gain. 

Are  as  shade  to  the  light. 
Are  as  hell  to  a  heaven,  compared  to  their  lot 

Though  humble  and  poor,  whose  lives  incite 
And  train  men's  thinking  that  else  were  not. 

Love  and  Life,  x. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  387 

TEACHER,  QUALITIES  OF  A  GOOD 

For  a  teacher 
A  knowledge  of  mere  books  does  not  suffice ; 
He  needs  a  knowledge  too  of  human  nature ; 
And  sympathy,  to  make  his  teaching  welcome; 
And  fire,  to  make  it  felt;  and  tact  and  skill, 
To  aim  and  temper  it  for  others'  needs ; 
And  modesty  to  keep  his  own  acquirements 
In  strict-held  servitude  to  their  demands; 
And  dignity  that  comes  from  honoring  truth. 
To  crown  its  bondman  as  the  student's  master. 

Cecil  the  Seer^  i. 

TEACHERS  WITH   SNAP 

When  teachers  have  no  snap,  they  seldom  teach 
their  pupils  how  to  snatch;  and  half  the  thoughts,  as 
well  as  things,  we  need  in  Hfe  are  got  by  snatching. 

On  Detective  Duty,  v. 

TEACHING,  WHEN  FALSE 

Ah,  strange  how  much  would  not  be  thought 

Were  it  not  taught !     A  plague  on  their  presumption 

Who  first  began  to  teach,  and  teach  religion! 

As  if,  forsooth,  the  heaven  would  be  all  dark 

Without  our  great  lights  of  the  temple  here 

To  thrust  their  smoking  torches  toward  it ! 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

TEAM-WORK  IN  LIFE-WORK 

....  All  our  firms  must  have  their  secrets;  and 
anyone  who  starts  to  play  with  others — he  must 
support  the  team. 

....  Why  play  with  others? 

....  The  very  question  I  have  asked.  The  man 
who  sells  himself  to  harness  in  a  team,  be  friend 
or  foe  the  one  who  tempts  him  to  it,  leaves  the 
one  place  where  he  may  meet  with  God  and  starts 
in  paths  where  he  may  meet  the  devil. 

The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

TEARS 

The  gem-like  tears,  pursed  in  his  wrinkled  cheeks. 
Fell  like  some  rich  exchange  of  value  due 
Proved  wealth  of  worth  within  the  soul  now  gone. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Prelude. 


388  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Then  soon  the  froth  that  foam'd  o'er  reason's  cup 
Dissolv'd  in  timid  tears,  flow'd  down  the  side. 

Idem,  Daring,  lxviii. 

TEAS  AND  MEN 

When  asked  to  ladies'  teas,  some  men  dress  up  before 
they  go.  These  think  the  thing  a  nuisance  before  they 
start;  and  some  do  not  dress  up: — they  know  that  it's 
a  nuisance  when  they  get  there. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  iii. 

TEETH,  USED  IN  TALKING,  AS  WELL  AS  EATING 

Our  teeth  are  white  keys  of  an  instrument  on  which 
the  spirit  plays — to  sound  the  music  of  the  speaking 
voice.  'Tis  better  when  they  must  move  somehow,  to 
keep  them  at  the  spirit's  work. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

TEMPERAMENT,  AS  A  SOURCE  OF  LIKES 

What  one  likes  or  dislikes  ....  depends  at  times, 
less  on  another's  tendencies  than  on  one's  own  tem- 
perament. Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

TEMPERAMENTS  AS  INFLUENCED  BY  SPIRIT 

His  words  and  ways  have  seemed  so  void  of  grace, 

To  say  not  grit! 

....  In  temperaments  like  his 

The  form  is  but  the  signal  of  the  spirit. 

We  never  judge  a  flag  by  gawky  flops 

Against  a  wind-forsaken  pole;  but  by 

Its  flying  when  it  feels  the  breath  of  heaven. 

Dante,  I.,  I. 

TEMPERAMENTS    VS.    TENDENCIES 

....  It  is  not  irrational — is  it? — to  follow  one's 
own  tastes? 

....  Yes,  when  they  prompt  one  to  forget  other 
people's  traits.  Temperament  appeals  to  us  through 
the  body,  tendencies  through  the  mind.  A  rational 
being  ought  first  to  heed  the  latter. 

Where  Society  Leads,  I. 

TEMPTATION  AND  TRAINING   {see  PROHIBITION) 

....  No  one  can  keep  a  man  from  being  tempted 
till  he  has  rid  him  of  his  human  nature,  and  ills  you 
never  can  eradicate  you  ought  to  try  to  regulate.  If 
not,  take  one  thing  from  a  man,  he  finds  another; — 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  389 

for  beer  finds  brandy,  and  for  alcohol  finds  opium. 
True  reform  must  aim  to  make  the  saints  you  seem  to 
breed  not  mere  weak  sneaks. 

....  An  old  plea,  yes ! 

....  It  is — as  old  as  Eden  with  trees  that  gave 
men  knowledge  of  the  evil  as  well  as  of  the  good; — ■ 
with  grains  and  fruits  in  which  a  man  could  find  both 
food  and  poison. 

.  '.  .  .  You  wouldn't  keep  the  poison  from  his  lips? 

....  Would  rather  make  him  keep  his  lips  from 
it. 

....  Could  do  it? 

....  Not,  perhaps,  with  every  man.  All  training 
fails  with  some — is  very  hard  to  keep  the  devil  from 
getting  his  full  quota.  But  this  should  not  prevent 
our  trust  in  training;  or  in  the  mind  we  train.  Few 
men  are  fools,  and  we  shall  find  them  fewest  when  we 
treat  them  not  like  unthinking  brutes  which  they  are 
not,  but  like  true  men  who  can  be  reached  by  reasons. 
When  not  reached  thus — it  may  seem  harsh  to  say  it ; 
yet  if  this  life  be  meant  for  discipline,  both  fools  and 
wise  must  have  an  equal  chance — 'no  man  can  fight 
the  devil  for  another.      Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 

Who  knows  what  men  can  be, 
Till  pierced  where  tenderest?     It  was  the  fleet 
Achilles  could  be  wounded  in  the  heel ; 
And  some  have  heads,  and  some  have  hearts  to  hurt. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ill.,  2. 

TEMPTED 

The  saved  think  less  that  they  themselves  were  good 
Than  that  they  were  not  tempted  overmuch. 

The  First  Fascination. 
You  alone  .  .  . 
When  tempted,  have  not  let  them  drain  your  veins 
Of  healthful  soul-strength,  to  inject  therein, 
In  place  of  it,  their  foul  sense-fevering  virus. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

TEMPTER   MAY   BE   AN   ANGEL 

Oh,  do  not  think  the  tempter,  when  he  comes, 
Proclaims  his  presence  through  acknowledged  ill! 
His  most  seducing  tones  may  leave  the  lips 


390  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Of  friends,  or  those  who  best  may  pose  as  friends; 

His  direst  pitfall-paths  mount  up,  nor  hint 

What  crumbling  crags  their  garden  glories  wreathe. 

You  deem  that,  at  the  crisis  of  his  life, 

It  was  a  devil  Jacob  wrestled  with? — 

Na}'-,  nay;  Hosea's  term  for  him  was  angel. 

West  Mountain. 

TENDENCIES,     AVOIDING 

Things  may  tend  where  you  and  I  needn't  attend 
them.  The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  iv. 

THEMSELVES  {see  EGOTIST  and  self-conceit) 
The  men  who  scan  us,  as  a  class, 
Turn  always  toward  themselves,  alas, 
Their  magnifier's  largest  glass; 
And  small  and  far  seem  all  who  pass. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  in. 

theories    (see   imagination,    philosophy   and 

practical) 

And  what  are  theories  worth,  except  so  far 

As  each  can  make  men  better  than  they  are? 

Idem,  Seeking,  Liv. 
thieves   cowardly 
A  man  who  fights  with  thieves  has  justice  to  fight 
beside  him.     They  show  their  backs  to  the  one  and 
they  dare  not  face  the  other.        The  Ranch  Girl,  ii. 

thinking  as  related  to  acting 
More  is  always  brew'd  in  error  than  befogs  the  thinking 

mind. 
That  which  moves  the  springs  of  action  flows  to  action 
like  in  kind.        A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  iii. 
thinking  beings,  treating  people  like 

And  he  will  find  before  he  dies 
That  men  accept  one's  estimate  of  them. 
If  he  esteem  them  thinkers,  give  them  thought, 
They  turn  to  him  like  thinking  beings ;  but 
If  he  esteem  them  brutes,  and  give  them  force, 
They  turn  upon  him  like  a  brute. 

Columbus,   III.,   2. 
thinking,  preventing  others  from 
....  You  seem  to  have  a  chronic  objection  to  a 
woman's  thinking  a  little  for  herself. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  391 

....  No;  I  merely  object  to  her  thinking  entirely 
for  others.  Really,  you  should  be  more  cautious. 
Young  people  ought  not  to  get  into  their  heads  the 
idea  that  everybody  can  be  managed. 

....  Why  not? 

....  Mainly  because  it's  not  true.  You  convey  a 
false  impression.  It  is  about  as  easy  to  blow  a  feather 
down  a  boy's  throat  when  he  himself  keeps  blowing  as 
to  get  a  thought  into  his  mind  when  he  himself  keeps 
thinking. 

....  Yes ;  except  when  he  stops  to  breathe ! 

....  And  then  you  can  enter  in,  I  suppose,  and 
take  possession.  Do  you  remember  what  the  Bible 
calls  those  that  take  possession  of  other  people's  minds. 
It  calls  them  devils. 

....  Oh,  the  Bible! 

....  Wise  old  book,  nevertheless!  The  truth  is 
that  when  we  try  to  influence  others  irrespective  of 
their  own  thinking,  we  very  soon  begin  to  lose  respect 
for  their  thinking,  and,  not  only  so,  but  for  our  own 
thinking,  and  for  any  kind  of  thinking.  As  soon  as  a 
man  does  that,  he  begins  to  disregard  thought  and  to 
say  and  do  what  misrepresents  it;  in  other  words,  to 
deceive.  Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

THINKING  MEN,   THEIR  INFLUENCE 

One  thinking  follower  might  make  men  believe 
Your  other  followers  were  controlled  by  thought. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 

THINKING    OF   OTHERS*    NEEDS 

A  man  can  do  a  deal  of  things  through  thinking  how 
much  some  one  needs  them. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  11. 

THINKING  OUT  LOUD 

A  mind  that  thinks  out  loud  works  like  a  gun  dis- 
charged before  it  has  been  fully  loaded.  It  harms 
itself  and  does  not  help  its  owner. 

The  Two  Paths,  11. 

THINKING  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT  OF  POSSIBILITIES 

....  What's  the  use  of  having  a  fortune  if  you're 
obliged  to  live  like  a  farmer? 

....  The  farmer  may    have  as  much    to   think 


392  A  POET'S  CABINET 

about  as  if  he  were  always  thinking  of  a  fortune;  and 
what  one  thinks  makes  up  the  most  of  what  one  needs 
in  life.  What  Money  Can't  Buy,  i. 

THOUGHT  {see  FANCY  and  imagination) 
All  men's  wisdom  flows  from  each  man's  thought; 
And  ev^ery  page  of  progress  but  records 
The  impress  of  this  thought  express'd  in  deeds. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  iv. 
Ah,  thought  was  crystallized  when  came  the  world! 

Idem,  Seeking,  xix. 
Oh,  not  the  outward  things  that  may  incite 
Give  the  true  measure  of  the  inward  aim ! 
Our  minds  are  deeper  than  our  deeds  proclaim; 
And  only  thought  can  make  them  move  aright. 
Broadening  Ones  Outlook. 
All  things  created  can  for  thought  procure 
No  more  than  one's  creative  thoughts  conjure. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  X. 
thought,  as  influenced  by  force  {see  force) 
When  you  come  to  deal  with  thought. 
The  only  influence  force  can  have  upon  it 
Is  to  suppress  but  leave  it  still  possessed. 
If  error  be  in  mind,  it  seems  far  better 
To  let  it  out,  and  so  be  rid  of  it. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 
thought,   entangled 

Ah,  why  should  fate 
Leave  thought  entangled  like  an  eagle  here 
Whose  wings  are  bound,  and  feet  can  only  crawl 
So  slowly,  and,  when  one  so  longs  to  fly. 
So  painfully?  Berlin  Mountain. 

thought,  he  who  occasions 
He  whose  words  can  wake  the  earth  to  thought 
Has  heaven's  own  warrant  that  he  should  be  heard. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ill.,  2. 

thought,  interfering  with  another's 

Nothing  in  the  world  is  quite  so  practically  divine 

as  m.ind;  nothing  so  practically  sacred  as  thought. 

You  and  I  have  no  right  to  interfere  with  another's 

thought,  in  order  to  prevent  a  truthful  expression  of  it. 

Where  Society  Leads,  ii. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  393 

THOUGHT  UNCHECKED 

And  thought  uncheck'd, — it  oft  more  danger  fronts 
Than  does  the  uncheck'd  steed,  whose  frenzied  flight 
Defies  the  rein,  and,  dashing  down  a  road 
Straight  deathward,  trails  his  luckless  driver  on, 
Whirl'd  powerless  to  prevent  all  as  a  babe. 

Haydn,  xxix. 

THOUGHT   vs.   PERSONAL  AFFECTION 

Be  on  your  guard  and  think. 

And  think? — 
I  need  that  caution? — when  this  beaker  all 
Is  brimming  to  its  overflow? — And  think? — 
When  all  my  thoughts  are  radiant  with  his  form 
Like  surging  sea-waves  glancing  back  the  sun? 

Columbus,  I.,  2. 

THOUGHT,    WHEN    OPPOSED 

Our  thought,  like  light, 
Opposed,  will  vaunt  itself;  and  brightest  play. 
Glanced  off  from  things  it  does  not  penetrate. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  L. 

THOUGHT,   WAIVING  ONE's  OWN 

No  man  has  the  right  to  waive  his  own  thought  for 
the  thoughts  of  others,  except  so  far  as  these  become 
his  own.  Then,  like  night  travelers,  led  to  lighted  halls, 
and  sometimes  to  a  dawn  the  sunrise  brings,  he  can 
extinguish  his  own  petty  lantern.     The  Two  Paths,  iv. 

THRONE 

A  soul  that  summons  all  that  does  one's  best 
To  do  still  better,  sits  upon  a  throne 
Than  which  none  higher  is  conceivable. 

Columbus,  I.,  2. 

THUNDER 

All  our  lives,  we  start  and  wonder, 
In  this  under  world,  what  blunder 
Woke  in  heaven  the  voice  of  thunder. 
Yet  it  peals;  and  oh,  how  sadly. 
Like  the  storms  that  gather  madly 
Over  days  that  dawn  so  gladly. 
Burst  on  heavenliest  harmonies 
Notes  from  where  no  music  is ! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxiv. 


394  A  POET'S  CABINET 

THUNDER  STORM    (see   STORM) 

The  night 

Already  shook  beneath  the  threatening  tread 
That  brought,  anon,  a  storm.    Oh,  fearful  sight, — 

That  black  car  of  the  thunderer  overhead ! 

Those  fierce  bolts  flashing  down  their  track  of  red, 
And  crashing  on  amid  the  shatter' d  sleet! 

And  one  broad  elm,  like  Ceesar,  stabb'd  and  dead, 
Flung  up  its  robes  and  tumbled  at  his  feet, 
While  hoarse  winds  howl'd  about,  and  made  his  woe 
complete.        A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lxxv. 

TIES 

All  ties  are  right  that  make  true  life  more  bright. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

TIME  AND  VITAL  FORCE 

To  eyes 
That  scan  eternity,  time  cannot  be 
The  measure  gauging  vital  force;  nay,  nay: 
Then  heavenly  lightning  were  a  weaker  thing 
Than  earthly  smoke.  Haydn,  i. 

TIME,   ITS  WORTH 

The  worth  of  time  is  measured  like  a  gem's, 
Not  by  its  bulk  but  by  its  brilliancy. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 

TIME-SERVER 

And  yet  he  played  no  mere  time-server's  part, 

Nor  waived  old  truth  and  friendship  for  the  new. 
Who  judged  he  waived  them  would  misjudge  a  heart 

No  more  susceptive  to  them  both,  than  true. 
But  traits  like  these,  because  not  always  blended. 

Oft  made  his  nature  doubted  and  reviled; 
Some  deem'd  them  craft,  and  such  their  friendship 
ended; 
Some  deem'd  them  whims,  and  such  would  chide 
him  like  a  child.      A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  iv. 
Shall  one,  when  the  world 

Asserts  control. 
Forget  the  soul? 
With  every  flag  of  a  high  cause  furl'd 
Give  up  his  fight  for  virtue  and  truth. 
And  become  a  man  of  the  world,  forsooth? — 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  395 

Ay,  ay,  a  coward,  who  cringed  and  bow'd, 

And  has  grown  content  to  court  the  crowd? — 

A  mountebank  who,  in  storm  or  calm, 

Turns  up  or  down  his  wiUing  palm 

For  a  pittance  from  snobs  that  he  thinks  to  please 

With  a  sneer  for  those  and  a  smile  for  these? 

Love  and  Life,  xxxvii. 

TIMES,    GOOD 

How  much  is  time  here  worth,  if  in  it  all 
We  live  but  slaves,  and  never  know  of  good  times? 
The  man  who  squeezes  these  all  out  our  life — 
Wrings  our  last  sweat-drop  out  to  serve  himself, — 

He  has 

....  A  vampire's  care  for  us. 

Columbus,  III.,  2. 

TIP-TOP  OF  SOCIETY 

They  are  at  the  top,  the  very  tip-top,  of  society. 

....  Should  think  so! — like  the  tip-top  house 
upon  Mount  Washington.  You  know  'tis  it  because, 
just  when  you  see  it,  you  feel  like  freezing. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  11. 

TITLE,  NOT  NEEDED  IN  AMERICA 

....  You  have  no  title. 

....  People  of  sense  know  enough  to  prefer  a  gold 
cup  without  a  handle  to  a  pewter  cup  with  a  handle. 
....  What  an  egotistical  boy  you  are? 
....  Am  I? 
....  No ;  but  you  are  very  American. 

Where  Society  Leads,  I. 

TOGETHER 

Will  never  a  Magellan  sail  around 
This  grander  globe  of  truth,  till  he  have  found 
How  paths  that  part  most  widely  sometimes  tend 
To  bring  two  souls  together  in  the  end? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  lv. 
TOIL  {see  LABOR  and  work) 
No  place  in  life  but  fills  a  need. 
Who  tills  the  soil,  he  starts  the  seed; 
And  on  his  kind  of  toil  below 
Depends  the  kind  of  fruits  that  grow. 

After  the  Lynching. 


396  A  POET'S  CABINET 

TOMB  (see  monument) 
Tread  softly.    Nothing  mortal  we  revere 
Within  the  dwelling  that  we  stand  before. 
No  form  will  come  to  meet  us  from  the  door. 
Only  the  spirit  of  the  man  is  near. 
Only  to  spirit  do  men  ever  rear 
These  shafts  like  arms  uplifted  to  implore 
The  world  to  honor  those  we  see  no  more, 
But  whose  white  souls  the  white  tomb  symbols  here. 
Ah,  what  could  ever  lead  earth's  dull  throngs  on 
To  those  bright  goals,  concealed  from  mortal  view 
In  future  glory  for  which  good  men  plan. 
Except  some  spirit  heaven  had  shone  upon? 
Our  awe  for  genius  is  a  worship  due 
To  that  which  comes  from  God  and  not  from  man. 

The  Grave  of  Genius. 

TONES,    MERRY    (seC   VOICE) 

Whose  merry  tones 
Would  ring  out,  if  our  thoughts  turn'd  far  from  her, 
Like  bells  that  homeward  lure  the  wind-blown  bees, 
And  bring  our  flighty  fancies  back  again. 

Haydn,  iv. 

TONGUE,   THE,   AND   ITS  POETIC   INFLUENCE   (see 

poetry) 
....  The  poet's  tool  is  his  poetic  tongue. 
....  'T  is  not  the  tongue  that  makes  the  bell  ring 

sweet ; 
It  is  the  metal  of  the  bell  itself.  Dante,  I.,  i. 

TRACK,   RIGHT,    FOR    THOUGHT 

You  place  thought  on  the  right  track  once,  you  find 

What  moves  it  on  is  not  what  moves  it  off. 

They  differ.  Columbus,  i.,  I. 

TRADE 

E'en  trade  is  made  by  winds  from  heaven  above 
To  join  men  in  the  bonds  of  trust  and  love. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  XLl. 
But  let  us  hope,  while  knowledge  still  advances. 

That  men  will  learn  to  trust  in  manhood  more; 
As  trade  that  once  crept  on  with  lifted  lances 

Has  learn'd,  at  last,  unarm'd  to  feed  each  hungry 
shore.  Idem,  Serving,  lxxx. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  397 

TRADES,  JUDGING  MEN  BY 

My  mood, 
As  gloom  would  gather  round  again,  would  grieve 
To  think,  in  sorting  souls,  fate  bungled  so. 
And  let  our  traits  be  judged  of  by  our  trades, — 
The  dusty  imprint  of  the  things  we  touch. 
"As  well,"  cried  I,  "to  judge  of  winds  of  heaven, 
By  bogs  they  brush,  or  fogs  they  bear  away! 
We  two  that  so  could  trust  each  other's  hearts, 
Why  should  we  not  join  hearts,  and  leave  to  them 
The  hands?"  Ideals  Made  Real,  lxii. 

TRAGEDY 

In  every  life. 
The  first  and  final  acts  are  tragedy. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 

TRAINING 

Do  not  think  that  men 
Can  ever  change  our  nature  by  their  training. 
Nay,  clip,  abuse,  deform  it  as  you  may, 
The  weakest  bush  will  bear  its  own  flower  still, 
And  every  heart  the  love  life  made  it  for. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

TRAINING  AND  WORKING 

You  can't  train  even  a  vine,  unless  it's  working 
all  the  time  itself. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iii.,  2. 

TRAINING   OF   THE   WORLD    {see   WORLD,    SOUL  and 

spirit) 
Oh,  he  has  been  train'd  by  the  world  and  the  school 
To  curb  his  character  in  by  rule 
Till  the  rule  of  his  life  is  a  lie. 
A  man  like  that  would  spurn  to  find 
In  God's  designs  the  quest  of  his  mind. 
He  crams  and  drams  for  an  appetite 
That  nothing  on  earth  can  sate  or  excite. 
His  words  are  as  dry  as  the  words  of  a  book, — 
Your  sentence  is  ready,  wherever  you  look. 
His  views — he  never  saw  any  thing  strange: 
If  he  did,  some  fellow  might  question  his  range. 
And  all  of  profit  he  tests  by  pelf. 
And  all  of  manhood  measures  by  self, 


398  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Forgets  that  God  rules  the  world  he  is  at, 
And  stars  himself  as  its  autocrat. 

Of  Such  Is  the  Kingdom. 

TRANSMIGRATION 

....  Who  has  traced  for  you 

The  history  of  spirits?     If  they  came 

From  God,  as  matter  came,  why  came  they  not 

With  matter? 

....  What? — Through  beasts  and  birds,  you  mean? 

.  .  .  .  Why  not? — Why  should  not  these  have  endless 

Hfe? 
Why,  if  they  have  it,  should  their  course  be  checked 
Ere  they  attain  the  highest? — and,  if  not. 
Why  should  their  essence  not  move  up  through  man? 
....  Is  man  the  son  of  beasts? 
....  In  flesh  why  not? — 

But  may  be  born  of  flesh  and  of  the  Spirit. 
Devoid  of  spirit,  all  the  body's  nerves 
Are  lifeless  as  the  wires,  when  rent  apart, 
Which  once  were  thrilling  with  electric  force. 
But  ah!  that  force,  though  flown  to  air,  comes  back 
To  give  new  life  wherever  new  forms  fit  it. 
So,  while  the  whole  creation  of  the  flesh. 
In  groans  and  travails  of  successive  births. 
Prepares  each  new  formation  for  its  need. 
Why  should  not  psychic  force,  the  breath  of  Him 
In  whom  all  live  and  move  and  have  their  being, 
With  rhythm  mightier  than  the  pulse  of  lungs, 
Or  day  and  night,  or  autumn  and  the  spring, 
Pass  up  through  all  the  lower  ranks  of  life. 
Through  birth  and  on  through  death,  from  air  to 

breath. 
From  breath  to  air,  till,  last,  it  reaches  man; 
And,  taught  the  lesson  there  of  human  hands 
Which  master  matter,  and  of  each  man  make 
A  fellow  worker  in  creation's  work. 
And,  taught  the  lesson  of  the  human  voice. 
Which  for  each  new  conception  frames  a  word 
To  phase  and  phrase  it,  and  of  each  man  makes 
A  fellow-thinker  in  creation's  thought, — 
Why  should  not  this  force,  moulded  by  the  hand 
And  head,  attain  in  man  its  final  end, 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  399 

And  dowered  with  will  and  reason,  freed  at  death 
From  its  material  framework,  hold  its  mould, 
And  reach  the  last  result  of  all  that  is. 
Where  that  which  served  the  serpent  is  the  son, — 
A  spirit  in  the  image  of  the  Father? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

TRAP 

I  am  practicing,  you  see — 
On  criminals. — That  man  there  set  a  trap. 
But  it  takes  two  to  make  a  trap  work.    He, 
He  was  a  genius,  this  man,  played  both  roles, 
He  set  it  and  was  caught  in  it. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 

TRAP,  SKIRTED 

You  skirted  trap,  you  think  all  men  will  tumble 
when  you  try  to  trip  them?  The  Two  Paths,  i. 

TREACHERY 

They  think  that  these  will  seem  our  friends; 
And  make  an  opening  through  which  all  can  enter. 
What  keener  point  could  treachery  find  to  edge 
Its  wedge  of  enmity,  than  tried  old  friendship? 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

TREADMILL 

The  feet  that  tread  the  treadmill  no  more  bind 

The  spirit  to  their  petty  task,  than  do 

Our  brains  bind  thought  whose  words,  by  working 

through. 
Not  in,  this  mortal  framework,  lead  their  kind. 

Obscurity. 

TREASURE,  A  NATION'S 

If  I  be  queen,  let  me  be  queen 
Of  Spain's  rich  spirit  as  of  Spain's  rich  soil. 
I  will — there  is  a  treasure. — What  to  Spain 
Are  her  most  precious  treasures,  that  star  most 
The  crown  that  they  surround  with  living  light? 
Mere  jewels,  think  you? — Nay,  not  these,  but  men. 
And  if  I  give  the  one  to  gain  the  other,  who 
Could  strike  a  better  bargain?     Ay,  I  will — 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 

TREASURE,   HIDDEN  BENEATH  APPEARANCES 

Earth  is  a  field  where  hidden  treastire  lies. 


400  A  POET'S  CABINET 

All  search  for  it ;  their  searching  wakes  their  thoughts, 

And  draws  out  their  desires,  and  aims  their  acts. 
At  last,  they  look  and  live  for  that  alone 
Which  lures  beneath  appearances.    Few  find  it. 
The  few  that  do,  find  that  which  makes  the  world 
Worth  living  in,  and  worth  yon  circling  dome, 
The  crown  God  gives  it,  jeweled  all  with  stars. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  i. 

TREES,    ON   MOUNTAIN  TOPS 

I  reached  that  great  right  angle  where 
All  farms  and  all  things  fertile  lie  below. 
And  only  barren  slopes  of  sterile  rock 
And  trees  that  nature  struggles  to  disown 
Await  the  climber  who  would  still  move  on. 

West  Mountain. 

TRESSES 

Then,  as  nearer  she  drew,  her  face 
Clear'd  from  a  shade  of  tresses, 

Fair  as  a  dawn  that  breaks  apace 
Out  of  a  cloud's  recesses. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  ii. 

TROUBLE,     AS     AFFECTING     STRONG     CHARACTER      (seC 

AFFLICTION  and  bereavement) 
Nothing  that  can  come  from  the  world,  no  matter 
how  much  it  may  irritate  or  hurt,  can  really  injure  or 
weaken  a  strong  character.    It  acts  like  sand  when  it 
scratches  a  gem,  giving  it  a  finer  polish. 

Where  Society  Leads,  Iii. 

TROUBLE,    treated   LIGHTLY   AND   SERIOUSLY 

At  times,  a  trouble  like  this  when  coming  between 
old  friends,  if  treated  as  of  serious  intent,  may,  like 
seed,  take  root  and  grow  enormously;  but  treated 
lightly,  as  a  joke,  be  quickly  brushed  aside  like  seed 
dropped  accidentally.  The  Ranch  Girl,  iv. 

TROUBLE  DUE  TO  SELF  (see  WORRY) 

In  man  as  in  nature,  the  outward  jar 
Less  brings  our  trouble  than  what  we  are. 
The  wind  may  but  tickle  the  grass  or  the  tree 
That  lashes  to  fury  the  wave  of  the  sea. 

The  Last  Home  Gathering. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  40I 

TRUE 

In  all  tales  true  to  life 
Men  read  a  lesson  less  from  man  than  God. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Finale. 

TRUE,   AND  A   TRUE   SOUL 

.  .  .  These  words  recall  an  ancient  eastern  dream; 
And,  in  one's  waking  hours,  can  it  be  true? 
....  Think  you  a  true  soul  ever  served  a  thought 
Not  souled  in  truth,  whatever  were  its  form? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 

TRUE  TO  HUMAN  NATURE 

All  men,  to  their  own  best  natures  true, 
Learn  soon  to  let  truth  rule  their  fellows  too. 
So  here  the  chains  that  on  the  bondmen  clank 
Are  loosed,  and  slaves  may  reach  the  noblest  rank; 
And  every  field  grows  richer  for  the  toil 
Of  yeomen  working  well  their  own-held  soil. 
Their  very  king,  at  last,  has  come  to  plan 
The  common  welfare  like  a  common  man. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Seeking,  XLI. 
TRUST  {see  faith) 
Ah  no,  for  shade  no  more  than  light  will  fall 

On  souls  that  still  in  God  and  man  can  trust. 
To  him  who  still  has  faith  in  generous  action 
Full  many  a  thankful  eye  will  love  confess ; 
And  many  a  hope  that  thrills  life's  nobler  faction 
On  many  a  lip  assure  his  life  of  sure  success. 

Idem,  Serving,  Lxxxvi. 
In  God  we  trust  by  trusting  all 
In  whom  His  traits  are  shown. 

God  bless  America. 
truth  {see  force  and  words  of  truth) 
I  give  them  truth. 

Truth  is  for  fools. 
I  give  it  to  them. 

Humph !  it  comes  from  fools. 
Yes,  if  they  think  men  want  it.    I  do  not. 
They  merely  need  it.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

Our  God  is  great.     I  deem  Him  great  enough 
His  truth  to  save  without  subverting  ours. 
True  sovereignty  has  truth;  't  is  not  a  sham 
26 


402  A  POETS  CABINET 

That  holds  high  rank  because  we  courteous  men, 
Considerate  men,  allow  it  seeming  rank. 
Who  Hes  to  save  the  truth,  distrusts  the  truth, 
Disowns  the  soul,  and  does  despite  to  God. 
Who  strives  to  save  his  life  thus,  loses  it, 
In  evil  trusting  and  the  Evil  One, — 
Salvation  through  the  Devil,  not  through  Christ! 

Haydn,  xxvii. 

With  truth,  the  longer  kept,  the  longer  thought  of ; 
And  thinking  feeds  conviction.       Columbus,  i.,  3. 

....  I  never  saw  a  girl  like  you  before. 

....  Am  I  so  queer?  I  never  thought  I  was. 
Some  girls,  you  know,  are  kind,  too  kind  to  say  what 
others  never  want  to  have  them  say. 

....  And  what  is  that? 

....  My  mother  calls  it  truth. 

....  Of' all  the  innocents!  You  know,  my  girl, 
you're  scarcely  fitted  for  a  place  like  this. 

....  Why  not? 

....  You  are  so  pretty,  and  so  good.  Do  you 
believe  in  love  at  first  sight? 

....  What  is  that? 

....  The  first  time  you  see  a  fellow  you  know 
that,  somehow,  he  was  made  for  you, 

....  Know  somehow — how? 

....  Because  he  looks — looks  nice. 

....  Oh,  there  are  many  people  that  look  nice ! 

He  looks  particularly  so.     He  makes  you 

Why  should  I  be  afraid  of  him,  when  he  is 


thrill, 
nice? 


....  I  didn't  mean  just  that. 

....  You  looked  at  me,  I  thought,  as  if  you  did. 

....  How  looked  at  you? 

....  Oh,  well,  I  hardly  know.  I  never  met  a  man 
like  you  before. 

....  You  never  met  a  man  who  loved  you  then. 

....  Do  men  like  you  love  all  the  girls  they  see? 

....  No — only  you. 

....  What  do  you  know  about  me?  The  only 
thing  that  I  can  think  of  is  that  I — I  didn't  want  to 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  403 

drink;  but  you — You  seem  to  like  this  drinking  very 
much.  How  can  I  think  that  you  belong  to  me? 
{Then,  as  he  bends  over  her.)  Please,  please,  sir,  point 
your  breath  the  other  way. 

....  You  are  so  sweet. 

....  Yes,  I  would  like  to  keep  so. 

On  Detective  Duty,  11. 

TRUTH    AND   LOVE    {see   LOVE) 

Come  to  the  truth,  and  come  as  you  may, 

All  of  love  is  begun. 
Whether  you  feel  or  think  your  way. 

Love  and  the  truth  are  one. 
Love  is  the  warmth,  and  truth  the  ray; 
Truth  is  the  light,  and  love  the  day; 
Come  to  either,  you  wend  your  way 

Under  the  lasting  sun. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxviii. 

And  truth  the  sovereign  is,  not  speech,  nor  sect. 
Who  love  God's  truth  love  God. 

Idem,  Seeking,  XLVii. 

TRUTH,  DEPENDENT  ON  VIEW-POINTS  {see  CURRENT) 

....  Truth  can  never  change. 

....  We  can. 

.  .  .  .  And  change  it? 

....  Change 

Its  bearings  for  us.    Truth  is  of  the  heaven: 

The  mind  regarding  it  is  of  the  earth. 

The  one  is  infinite,  the  other  finite: 

The  one  expressed  in  light  itself,  the  other 

In  forms  that  but  reflect  light ;  and  the  truth, 

Made  such  but  by  reflection,  cannot  flash 

An  equal  ray  to  every  view-point.     Columbus,  11.,  2. 

TRUTH,    GROWING    OF    ITSELF 

There  is  too  much  life 
In  truth  of  any  sort,  when  sown,  to  doubt 
Its  growing.    I  have  made  a  good  beginning. 
....  A  very  small  one. 
.  .  .  .  So  a  seed  is  too, 

Whose  growth  is  great.     When  one  awaits  the  dawn. 
A  flush  is  better  than  a  flash,  which  oft 
But  bodes  a  rush-light.  Columbus,  i.,  3. 


404  A  POETS  CABINET 

TRUTH,   ITS   BREATH 

Truth  far  more  includes 
Than  most  men  deem  who  would  deem  all  things  theirs. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxvii. 

TRUTH  LIVING  THROUGH  CONCEALMENT 

Fact  is,  the  truth  in  the  world,  like  a  fox  on  a  farm, 
has  been  forced  to  hide  in  order  to  live;  so  finding  it 
always  involves  finding  out  what  has  been  kept  in. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

TRUTH,   PEDDLING 

Whatever  be  his  energy,  no  man  can  make  a  fortune 
peddling  truth.  The  Two  Paths,  ill. 

TRUTH,  RULING  AND  LEADING 

Where  truth  moved  on,  tho'  few  might  know  it, 
To  rule  by  the  meek  and  to  lead  by  the  poet. 

Love  and  Life,  LVii. 

TRUTH,  SEARCH  FOR 

Yes,  truth  there  is — I  long  have  thought — 
One  finds,  when  he  has  merely  sought. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxxvi. 

No  search  for  the  truth  with  a  willing  mind 

Is  a  search  for  what  one  is  willing  to  find. 

But  a  search  for  the  willing  of  all  mankind. 

Who  seek  but  this,  though  many  may  leave  them 

And  loss  of  all  in  the  home  may  grieve  them, 

At  last  may  slowly  learn  to  trace 

Fair  traits  of  the  spirit  in  each  new  face. 

Love  and  Life,  XLIX. 

TRUTH    SEEKING 

The  truth  would  seem  too  cheap,  if  brought 
To  souls  that  ne'er  for  it  had  sought. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxxi. 

TRUTH,  THE  WINE  OF  MIND 

It  may  be  late  in  life  for  us  to  get  what  makes  the 
body  young,  but  not  so  of  the  mind.  When  worn  by 
work,  no  wine  should  bring  it  better  cheer  than  truth. 

On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

TRUTH   TO   MANHOOD 

Whatever  the  mission  of  life  may  be, 

Let  love  keep  true,  and  let  thought  keep  free.. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  405 

And  never,  whatever  may  cause  the  plan, 
Enlarge  the  calling  to  lessen  the  man. 
The  cut  of  a  coat, 
Cant  chatter'd  by  rote, 
A  priestly  or  princely  state  remote 
From  the  ties  that  bind 
A  man  to  mankind, 
Are  a  clog  and  a  curse  to  spirit  and  mind; 
For  God,  who  made  us,  made  only  a  man, 
No  arms  of  a  snob,  no  shield  of  a  clan. 
Far  better  a  friend  that  is  friendly  to  God, 
Than  a  sycophant  kissing  a  ribbon  or  rod. 

Whatever  the  Mission  of  Life  may  he. 
TRUTH  TO  SELF  {see  FRANK  and  frankness) 

Have  your  say, 
Whether  you  blame  or  applaud, 
I  the  behest  of  my  soul  obey, 
Just  as  it  came  from  God. 

Musician  and  Moralizer. 

TRUTH    TO    SPIRIT 

But  why  should  he  so  suffer! — I  half  think 
In  truth  to  spirit  there  is  that  which  makes 
All  earth  its  enemy. 
....  Yet  conquers  it. 

Columbus,  I.,  3. 

TRUTH  VS.   COURTESY 

I  fear 
To  court  with  too  much  courtesy  the  truth 
That  but  to  be  truth  bids  us  oft  be  curt — 

Dante,  11.,  i. 

TWILIGHT 

Where  evening  shadows  lie  reclined  at  close  of  day, 
All  the  world  grows  more  attractive,  veil'd  in  twi- 
light's guise  of  gray; 
For,  in  dim  relief,  its  outlines  woo  our  wonder  and 
surmise.  A  Life  iji  Song:  Dreaming,  11. 

TYRANNY,  ITS  OWN  PERPETUATOR 

We  men  are  trained  in  government 
As  well  as  manners.    And  the  curse  of  force 
Is  that  its  own  mean  methods  keep  alive 
Its  first  excuse  for  being.     Tyranny 


406  A  POETS  CABINET 

May  make  of  chaos  order;  but,  when  throned, 

Knows  not  a  subject  that  is  not  a  slave. 

Would  one  of  those  o'er  whom  my  brother  ruled, 

Have  bent  the  knee  to  an  authority 

Not  ermined  in  the  old  familiar  guise 

Of  arbitrariness?  Columbus,  v.,  2. 

TYRANT 

O  ye  masters  and  oppressors,  ye  who  flout  what  poets  do, 
Keen  ye  are,  to  treat  as  dreams  the  things  these 

dreamers  deem  are  true. 
Dreams  they  are,  forsooth,  for  men,  when  wide  awake 

to  gains  of  earth. 
Selfish  here  and  there  suspicious,  all  assail  each  other's 

worth. 
Each  a  tyrant  where  he  dare  be,  crowds  his  neighbor 

from  his  path. 
Whining  then  for  laws  to  limit  and  restrain  his  neigh- 
bor's wrath, 
Whining  till  he  find  a  tyrant,  who  with  acts  that  goad 

and  bind. 
Fitly  bodies  forth  the  tyrant  whom  he  serves  in  his 

own  mind.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  x. 

No  tyrant  ever  triumphed  yet 
But  first  came  cowards  cringing  to  be  trod  on. 

Dante,  in.,  2. 

UNCONSCIENTIOUS  AND  UNCONSCIOUS 

When  a  man  becomes  unconscientious,  the  best 
thing  you  can  do  for  him — eh? — is  to  make  him  un- 
conscious? Where  Society  Leads,  i. 

UNDERSTAND 

At  times,  us  men  who  think  we  understand  him 
He  welcomes  but  like  strangers  pushing  in 
The  front  door  of  one's  house  before  they  knock. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 
UNDERSTOOD  (see  misunderstood) 
You  think  I  craved  their  cheering?    No,  not  that. 
I  only  want  the  best  I  have  within 
To  be  made  better  and  believed,  and  then 
Received  by  those  about  me.  Idem. 

undress  of  MEN  WHEN  WITH  WOMEN 

A  house  is  one  thing,  and  a  camp  another.    In  one, 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  407 

men  lay  aside  their  working  guise;  but  in  the  other 
they  must  keep  it  on.  Not  strange  it  shocks  a  shy 
man's  modesty  to  meet  with  ladies  in  what  custom 
calls  undress!  He  likes  to  seem  to  hold  them  dear; 
not  treat  them  as  if  he  were  cheapening  them. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  II. 

UNEXPECTED,  AN  ELEMENT  OF  ENJOYMENT 

There  is  nothing  a  circus  cheers  more  than  a  man 
who,  in  riding  a  horse,  appears  to  be  thrown,  and  is 
not.  The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

UNIFORMS  OF  MILITIA 

Why  is  it  that  militiamen  enlist? 

To  wear  their  uniforms? 

Just  for  the  looks. 

They  fight  for  that? 

Fight  well,  because  of  it.  It  makes  them 
formidable.  Dressed  alike,  they  look  like  one  big 
creature;  if  they  wore  no  uniforms  would  look  like 
many  small  ones.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  iii. 

UNSOPHISTICATED   GIRLS 

Girls  unsophisticated  are  like  bees : 
They  buzz  for  all,  and  yet  sip  all  their  sweets 
From  the  first  flowery  lips  that  open  to  them, 

Haydn,  xix. 

UPSHOT 

But  now  that  the  hour  drew  near  in  which  to  find 
out  what  would  be  the  result  of  it,  there  was  present 
to  his  consciousness  a  vague  and  sickening  feeling, 
similar  to  what  a  boy  has  when,  for  the  first  time,  he 
has  ended  loading  up  a  gun,  and  is  about  to  fire  it  off. 
He  is  not  entirely  certain  whether  the  gun  will  hit  its 
aim,  kick  back  at  himself,  or  end  in  a  general  explosion ; 
though,  whatever  is  to  be  the  upshot,  he  has  braced 
himself  for  the  attempt,  and  is  relieved  to  think  that 
the  time  has  come  to  give  the  experiment  vent. 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men,  i. 

USE 

We  live  our  lives  for  use;  if  men  misuse  us. 
Far  better  so  than  that  we  lose  all  use ! 

The  Aztec  God,  v. 


408  A  POET'S  CABINET 

UTILITY 

Think  not  that  every  leaf  that  sprouts  in  spring 
Must  be  a  stem  straight-pointed  toward  a  flower; 
That  every  bud  must  bring  a  blossom-nest 
In  which  to  hatch  and  home  a  future  fruit. 
Full  many  a  leaf  can  only  catch  the  shower 
And  quench  the  dry  limb's  thirst;  full  many  a  bud 
Grow  bright  alone  as  might  a  short-lived  spark 
Aglow  to  show  some  source  of  kindled  fragrance. 

Berlin  Mountain. 

VANITY  AND  DECEIT 

Ah,  nothing  like  a  she-hand,  skill'd  in  needles, 

To  prick  men's  vanity,  and  gown  the  hurt 

In  vain  disguises!  Columbus,  iv.,  i. 

VERSE  {see  POEMS,  POET  and  poetry) 

Where  heedless  ears 
Are  disenchanted  oft  of  all  distaste 
By  words  men  chant  in  verse  whose  music  seems 
To  pulse  and  pant  like  living  blood  and  breath, 
Or  leave  the  nervy  lines  like  breezes  blown 
From  silence  into  song-land,  as  they  cross 
^olian  chords; — who  in  a  world  like  this 
Would  not  wish  all  the  current  of  his  thought 
To  flow  to  speech  amid  these  waves  of  rhythm? 
More  swiftly  and  more  surely  thus,  perchance, 
The  truth  that  wells  from  him  may  clear  the  space 
Between  his  own  and  other  souls,  and  swell 
The  stream  of  truth  which  flows  from  each  for  all. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Prelude. 

verse  and  labor 
All  the  measures  of  your  verse  may  show 
How  sweet  can  be  the  echoes  waked  anon 
By  labor's  ringing  anvil. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  Lin. 
vice  {see  crimes  and  sin) 
At  first,  I  shrank  from  life  so  mean; 
And  oft  would  blush  when  I  had  seen 
How  man  could  boast,  yet  be  unclean; 
But,  oh,  I  feel,  as  weeks  wear  on. 
Vice,  oft  unveil'd,  appears  not  wan, 
And  stings  of  sin  wear  blunt  anon: 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  409 

One  learns  to  know  with  little  fear 
How  seldom  love  and  life  appear 
Full  wedded  in  this  lower  sphere. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  x. 

VICE,  WEAKENING  ONE's  DEFENSES 

....  The  way  to  get  the  better  of  a  man  is  to 
attack  him  at  his  worst. 

....  Suppose  you  fail  to  find  his  worst?  What 
happens  then?  You  meet  a  man  who  drinks,  and  you 
can  drug  him;  or  gambles,  you  can  fool  him  as  your 
dupe;  or  sports  with  women,  gown  them  as  decoys; 
but  if  he  have  no  vices,  as  a  rule,  he  wears  a  mail  whose 
every  joint  is  covered.  On  Detective  Duty,  ill. 

VICES,    INFLUENCE    OF    MEN's    AND    WOMEN's 

Men's  vices,  as  we  know,  lead  men  astray;  but,  fuse 
them  with  a  woman's  natural  charms,  and  you  in- 
crease their  power  to  tempt  ten-fold.  A  woman  doing 
just  the  thing  that  man  does  can -play  the  devil  in  a 
sense  impossible  for  him. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 

VICTORY 

I  know  how  deep  and  dark  the  vale 

Where  some,  fair  fortune's  heights  to  scale, 

Equipp'd  with  sword  and  shield  and  mail. 

Have  found  the  power  to  wound  the  wrong, 

And  dash  aside  its  lances  long, 

And  press  between  its  yielding  throng; 

Till  all  men  wonder'd  at  the  fight 

Whose  brunts  had  made  their  mail  so  bright 

That  older  glory  shunn'd  its  light. 

Anon,  triumphant  o'er  the  wrong, 

And  thron'd  above  earth's  cheering  throng. 

As  chosen  chiefs  of  all  the  strong, 

Behold,  they  stand  where  honor  dwells, 

And  earth  with  pride  their  story  tells. 

Nor  envy  evermore  dispels 

Their  joy  that  swells  at  victory's  bells. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xvi. 
views  divine 

The  views  divine,  with  which  such  souls  are  bless'd, 

As,  always  looking  up,  forget  to  earn 


410  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Earth's  praise,  because  of  joy  in  heaven's  to  which 
they  turn.        A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xxxvii. 

VILEST 

There  are  times  when  the  vilest  of  men  disguises 
His  foulness  in  forms  that  love  most  prizes; 
But  alas!  his  gracious  and  graceful  gait 
The  vilest  of  men  takes  on  too  late. 
It  never  appears  like  a  natural  trait. 
Nor  long,  I  deem,  will  his  mien  cajole 

Those  finding  the  whole 
Of  the  sweet  in  his  coating  and  not  in  the  soul. 
Who  tastes  that  dainty,  alas,  but  gnashes 
At  apples  of  Sodom! — he  bites  into  ashes. 
As  well  pursue  a  will-o' wisp's  flare! — 
His  fire  of  devotion  is  all  in  the  air. 
As  well  touch  a  carcass! — those  pulsings  avow'd 
Are  worms  that  go  crawling  round  under  a  shroud. 
No  soul  is  within  him  our  soul  to  accost. 
His  might,  not  right,  of  repentance  is  lost. 
The  glut  of  the  senses,  like  vultures  above 
A  life  that  is  dead,  leaves  nothing  to  love. 

Love  and  Life,  liv. 

VILENESS  OCCASIONING  GOODNESS 

Do  you  know  that  goodness  is  a  growth  that  springs 
from  seed,  and  seed  grows  finest  sometimes  from  a 
soil  when  at  its  vilest?  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

Nay,  tho'  my  transient  look  went  wrong,  my  feet, 
Have  followed  righteousness.    Ah,  sire,  you  know 
Some  think  the  only  harvests  heaven  can  find. 
Unfold  from  germs  dropped  near  enough  to  hell 
To  fear  its  heat  and  grow  away  from  it. 

The  Aztec  God,  iii. 

VILLAIN,   AS  COMPANION 

Such  a  villain,  that  his  daintiest  act 
Of  kindness  is  a  counterfeited  coin 
With  which  he  chaffers  and  intends  to  cheat ! 
If  I  were  drowning,  I  would  spurn  to  grasp 
His  hand,  if  it  would  draw  me  near  himself. 
Better  to  die  at  once,  when  washed  and  clean, 
Than  catch  contagion  and  live  on  defiled. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  41 1 

VIRTUE,  ONE 

This  heart  of  mine  were  heavy  were  it  not 
Made  light  and  bright  by  eyes  that  can  detect, 
Beneath  all  veils  disguising  what  it  is, 
Its  one  sole  virtue.  Columbus,  11.,  i. 

VISIONARY 

A  visionary  man  produces  visions; 

And  in  the  world  that  is,  men  want  what  is. 

Idem,  I.,  3. 
VOICE  (see  tones) 
The  aged  soldier's  well  kept,  youthful  voice, 
The  ringing  echo  of  a  singing  heart. 
Charm' d  all,  like  chimings  of  the  old  church  bells, 
Which,  sweet  in  summer,  yet  still  sweeter  seem, 
When  peal'd  amid  the  winter's  wind-whirl'd  snow. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  i . 

No  wealth  and  rank  belong  to  me, 
But  yet,  where  thought  and  word  are  free. 
The  voice  alone  a  power  may  be. 
And  rule  the  world  by  singing. 

A  Song  on  Singing. 

voice,   QUALITY  OF 

And  such  a  voice,  too,  ugh,  ugh!  One  would  fancy 
her  born  and  cradled  out  here  on  a  ranch,  and  forever 
asleep  on  it,  catching  cold,  and  every  night  growing 
hoarser  by  snoring.  The  Ranch  Girl,  iii. 

voice,  tremor  in 

That  tremor  in  the  voice 
That  seems  to  make  the  soul's  pulse  audible. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  iii. 

voice  vs.  appearance 

Mere  sheep 
Would  not  be  driven  by  another  sheep 
Though  clothed  in  bear-skin,  could  they  only  hear 
His  old  familiar  bleat.  Columbus,  iii.,  2. 

votes,  getting 
In  getting  votes,  like  getting  fish  at  sea,  no  one  can 
hope  to  know  what  fills  the  net,  or  leave  out  anything, 
however  foul,  'till  all  the  catch  has  been  drawn  in,  not 
so?  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  11. 


412  A  POET'S  CABINET 

VOTES,  GIVEN  FOR  EXPECTED  FAVORS 

When  men  give  us  votes, 
They  lie  in  wait  to  have  their  gifts  returned, — 
To  wrest  from  us  an  undeserved  reward, 
Or  brand  us  ingrates  whom  all  friends  desert. 

Dante,  ii.,  2. 

VOW  (see  promise) 
The  soul  should  conquer  nature;  but  this  means 
That  spirits  all  should  claim  their  rights, — be  lords 
Of  forms  that  spring  from  earth.    But  are  they  so 
When  by  a  vow  they  swear  to  serve  a  form. 
And  don  the  life  and  livery  of  a  slave? 

Haydn,  XLi. 

VOYAGE  OF  LIFE    (see  LIVES) 

On  the  scenes  my  gaze  I  fix'd  then. — In  the  first,  there 

met  my  eye 
Figures  of  a  youth,  and  angel  pointing  out  the  head- 
lands high 
Of  a  land  of  peerless  grandeur  past  an  ocean  wide  and 

lone. 
In  the  next,  near  harbors  lured  the  youth  to  shores 

where  wrecks  were  strown. 
Next,  he  sail'd  o'er  rough  seas  bravely;  next,  did  drift 

becalm'd  awhile; 
Next,  flew  on  where  fairest  breezes  blew  toward  many 

a  flowery  isle. 
Next,  great  clouds  were  sweeping  toward  him,  and 

his  frame  was  bent  with  fear ; 
But  the  last  scene  show'd  a  port  with  heaven-high 

mounts  that  he  drew  near. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xxxi. 

VOYAGER 

How  far  his  views 
Reach'd  round  the  world,  tho'  ne'er  a  voyager! 
For  one  may  see  this  life  and  stay  at  home. 
Between  two  walls  imagination  oft 
Finds  truth  that  world-wide  travellers  never  know; 
Nor  does  it  always  make  men  wise,  I  deem. 
That  they  have  napp'd  in  Nice  or  roam'd  in  Rome. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  vi. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  413 

WAGE  VS.  SHARE  {see  SHARING  PROFITS) 

This  new  reform 
That  seeks  to  make  the  server  and  the  served 
Walk  hand  in  hand,  while  wage  gives  way  to  share, 
And,  furthering  all  men  to  their  furthest  due, 
Thus  lifts  the  low  and  lost.     Ideals  Made  Real, hxvii. 

WAITING 

A  seer  should  know  that  truth,  like  morn,  comes  on 

By  slow  degrees,  enlightening  every  sight; 
And,  tho'  he  wakes  the  world  it  dawns  upon, 

His  faith  should  wait  till  souls  can  see  the  light. 

'T  is  he  that  waves  his  own  torch  in  the  night 
Who  feels  that  he  must  force  on  men  its  glare; 

And,  though,  ere  dawn,  this  seems  the  one  thing 
bright, 
If  taken  for  the  sun,  it  leads  men  where 
Their  leader's  oil  burns  out,   and  they  themselves 
despair.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lxxi. 

WALKING 

I  have  walk'd  with  her ;  and  my  nerves  have  sway'd 
As  if  each  were  the  chord  of  a  harp  she  play'd, 
And  every  pulse  were  a  note  to  greet 
The  soft  low  beat  of  her  firm  young  feet. 

Idem,  Loving,  xi. 

WAR 

Oh,  what  a  whirlwind's  wave-lashed  sea  is  war! 

Then  hate  breaks  loose  to  over-flood  the  world, 

Hurling  all  love-built  order  upside  down 

Till  weal  is  drowned  in  darkness  of  the  deep, 

And  wreckage  rides  the  crest. — They  might  have  known 

They  would  be  tricked.    War's  tactics  all  are  acts 

Of  treachery — the  one  sole  sphere  where  he 

Who  does  the  worst  thing  does  the  best,  here  faith 

Falls  crushed  beneath  the  trampling  foot  of  force; 

And  fair  means  trip,  trailed  mire  ward  after  foul. 

The  Aztec  God,  i. 
When  sounds  of  war  awoke, 
And  wide  as  earth  a  vision  broke 
Of  sword  and  gun  in  flash  and  smoke, 
And  flags  o'er  freemen  springing. 

A  Song  on  Singing. 


414  A  POET'S  CABINET 

WAR    FOR    FREEDOM 

These  clouds  of  war  break  like  a  thunder-clap 
Amid  clear  skies  of  summer;  but  will  bring 
Our  plant  of  freedom  to  a  finer  fruitage. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ill.,  2. 
O  ye  who  see  but  lust  for  wealth  or  rule 
Where  love  would  end  one  more  wrong'd  people's 

thrall, 
As  your  sires  ended  yours,  how  blind  are  ye! 
Who  says  there  is  no  God  is  no  more  fool 
Than  he  who  hears  not  God's  voice  in  each  call 
To  loose  man's  bonds  and  let  the  oppress'd  go  free. 

Expansion. 

WARFARE  ON  EARTH  PERPETUAL 

To  men  whose  purposes,  like  ours,  push  on 
To  work  out  high  designs,  all  life  on  earth 
Is  girt  with  warfare,  where  the  light  of  heaven 
That  brings  us  each  new  day's  enlightenment, 
Contends  with  darkness,  and  there  is  no  peace. 
Our  very  bodies  are  but  phantoms  formed 
Of  that  same  darkness  that  we  must  oppose, 
And  we  must  fight,  if  nothing  else,  ourselves. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  iii.,  2. 

WEAKLING 

A  weakling  soon  to  die, 
Who,  if  train'd  in-doors,  might  fail  to  make  my  friend- 
ship with  the  sky ! 

A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  vi. 

WEAKNESS 

Your  weakness  is  your  wickedness. 

Haydn,  xxxix. 

WEALTH,    ARISTOCRACY   OF 

....  Has  she  been  trying  to  sit  down  on  you  again? 

....  Yes;  and  I  never  realized  before  how  heavy 
a  lot  of  money  in  one's  pocket  can  make  a  person. 

....  A  chance  for  you  to  do  missionary  work, 
then !     Did  you  try  to  give  her  an  uplift  ? 

....  Missionary  work!  I  felt  like  a  butterfly  in 
a  bog  trying  to  teach  a  worm  to  use  wings.  The  more 
you  get  the  worm  to  wiggling  the  deeper  down  it 
sinks. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  415 

....  There's  one  blessed  thing  about  it — for  her. 
She  never  thinks  of  you  as  the  butterfly  or  of  herself 
as  the  worm,  but  vice  versa. 

What  Money  Can't  Buy,  III. 

WEAPON 

Wise  men,  when  they  fear  a  fight, 
Will  never  lend  one  weapon  to  a  foe. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

WED 

Some  women,  once  wed, 
Drop  the  smile  from  their  face  with  the  veil  they  have 

shed.  Love  and  Life,  xxxiii. 

Men  do  not  often  wed  their  own  ideals. 
.  .  .  .  I  know  it.     I  have  thought  it  through;  and  yet, 
Without  that,  life  can  have  some  brightness  left. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  in.,  i. 

WEDDED  {see  MARRIAGE  and  matrimony) 
And  one  would  be  the  shelter'd  tree 

Whose  roots  resist  the  blast ; 
And  one  the  fruitful  vine  would  be 
That  lives  to  clasp  it  fast. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xix. 

O  darling,  can  it  be  this  frame 
Is  mine  in  truth  as  well  as  name? 
My  heart  is  trembling,  love,  to  share. 
And  make  thy  trembling  hope  its  care. 

What  is  it  brims  these  lips  of  thine? 

Is  it  a  draft  of  wine  divine? 

O  surely  never  earthly  gains 

Could  thrill  so  sweetly  through  the  veins. 

Come  near  me,  love,  for  I  would  be 
Forever  still  more  near  to  thee; 
And  while  our  lips  and  arms  entwine 
Let  all  I  am  or  own  be  thine. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XLIX. 

When  birds  at  morn  are  singing. 

And  wake  me  from  my  rest, 
All  heaven  above  me  ringing 

Seems  echoed  in  my  breast; 
Yet  not  to  answer  back  the  birds, 


4i6  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Nay,  love,  but  thy  warm  touch  and  words, 

Which  truly  bring  the  heaven  to  me 
Because  I  wake  to  live  with  thee. 

At  noontime,  when  my  labor 

That  toils  from  height  to  height 

Has  distanced  many  a  neighbor, 
And  all  my  skies  are  bright; 

All,  all  seem  nothing,  till  I  find 

Myself  within  thine  arms  entwined, 

And  thy  dear  lips  assuring  me 

That  all  I  gain  is  gain'd  for  thee. 

When  night  falls  dark  and  dreary, 

Or  loss  has  check'd  anon 
My  powers  that  worn  and  weary 

Refuse  to  labor  on. 
E'en  then  I  ne'er  can  mourn  the  cost 
Of  toilsome  days  and  labor  lost, 
While  night  and  weariness  to  me 
Bring  dreams  that  all  are  fill'd  with  thee. 

Idem,  L. 

Twin  lives  have  we,  both  rooted  in  one  soil, 
And  growing  toward  one  hope  for  which  we  toil ; 
Twin  lives  have  we,  both  branches  of  one  vine. 
And  all  that  threatens  thy  life  threatens  mine. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  lii. 

You  true  Pygmalion,  make  a  maid! — 

But  all  maids  grow  to  us,  when  wedded  once; 

For  practical,  they  are,  far  more  than  men. 

And  bow  to  powers  that  be.     Though  caught,  like 

fish 
Through  bait  they  crave  not  ere  men  tender  it, 
They  cleave  to  love  once  offer'd  them;  nor  turn. 
Like  male-friends,  clinging — true  as  iron,  forsooth — 
To  each  new  stronger  magnet!     Were  they  thus. 
Our  homes  might  hardly  hold  our  rivals  there. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LVI. 

WEDDED,   INFIDELITY  IN  THE 

Soon,  bird-like,  flitting  from  homes  unblest, 
Their  singing  is  all  outside  of  their  nest. 

Love  and  Life,  xxxiii. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  417 

WEDDING-DAY 

O  wedding-day,  thou  flower  most  rare 

Of  all  that  burst  from  bulbs  of  night, 
Lift  o'er  my  eyes  thy  petals  fair, 
Nor  shed  for  aye  thy  leaves  of  light, 
Nor  let  them  e'er  decay. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  XLVII. 

WEDDING    JOURNEY 

It  often  might  turn  out  as  well  to  take  one's  wedding 
journey  before,  not  after,  the  church  has  shut  one  out 
from  hearing,  till  he  or  his  mate  are  dead,  any  more 
of  the  wedding  music.  The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

WEDGE,  AS  A  SYMBOL  OF  INTERFERENCE 

....  Strange  world  this!  One  could  know  it 
whirled  without  the  scientists — it  jars  life  so!  You 
draw  your  plan,  you  build,  you  put  together  two 
things  that  seem  just  fitted  to  each  other;  a  third 
drops  like  a  wedge  between  them — ugh! 

....  At  times  the  wedge  seems  brought  there  by 
the  builder. 

....  A  wedge  is  part  of  all  who  push  themselves 
successfully. 

....  Some  think  to  reach  his  aims,  half  earth's  as 
well  as  heaven's,  a  man  should  be  in  part,  at  least,  a 
partner  of  the  devil.  The  Two  Paths,  11. 

WEEDS  vs.   ROSES 

If  when  we  walk,  we  bring  our  weeds  with  us, 
We  cannot  hope  our  air  will  smell  of  roses. 

Dante,  i,,  i. 

WEEST 

Then  I  saw  a  stranger  marvel: — smaller  than  each 

mate  so  small, 
Floated  near  the  weest  wonder  one  could  ever  see  at  all. 
First  it  seem'd  a  passing  snow-flake;  then  repaid  my 

steadfast  gaze 
With  the  outlines  of  a  skiff  there,  fill'd  with  cheery, 

film-like  fays; 
And  up  through  the  shifting  atoms  of  the  air  that 

parted  us 
Oozed  in  tiny  tones  a  ditty,  and  the  lines  were  worded 

thus :  A  Life  in  Song:  Dreaming,  xx, 

27 


4i8  A  POET'S  CABINET 

WEST,    THE    MIDDLE 

He  left  the  south,  and  wander'd  through  the  west, 

Where,  Hke  some  Eden's  garden  form'd  anew, 
The  Mississippi's  plains  reward  man's  rest 

With  boons  that  elsewhere  to  his  toil  are  due. 
There  sods  are  flower-beds,  needing  not  a  florist; 

There  every  field  a  vale  where  moisture  flows; 
And  every  barren  swamp,  or  cliff,  or  forest, 

A  mere  mirage  in  clouds  where  labor  finds  no  foes. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxi. 

WHIM 

His  brain  seems  like  a  bat's  at  blazing  noon 

That  works  but  to  work  out  some  inward  whim 

And  aims  at  nothing.  Dante,  i.,  2. 

WHIMS  {see  deeds) 

Our  wishes  and  ways  are  heirs  of  our  whims, 

And  our  footsteps  follow  our  eyes. 

Love  and  Life,  xvii. 
We  both  stood  round,  scarce  loath 
To  note  his  own  wild  set  inflating  him 
With  well-blown  whims  that  swell 'd  his  empty  pride. 
Forsooth,  the  better  bubble  he  could  be. 
The  better  hope  we  two  could  have  of  what 
Should  blow  him  from  us.         Ideals  Made  Real,  II. 

WHITTLED 

The  problem  wore  me  thin. 
My  very  wits,  indeed,  seem'd  whittled  off 
To  point  and  probe  it. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LX. 

WHY 

Within  our  souls  is  much  of  yearning 
That  patient  thoughts  are  slowly  turning 
To  deepest  and  to  broadest  learning 
That  cannot  answer  back  a  "why?" 
Like  sailors,  when  they  watch  a  sky 
Where  fogs,  offscourings  of  the  sea, 
Becloud  their  sight,  so  often  we 
Must  guess  our  reckonings,  it  may  be. 
Then  ye  who  with  us  onward  sail. 
And  watch  our  ways,  with  faces  pale, 
And,  hissing  fiercely  as  the  gale, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  419 

Our  right  of  reticence  deny, 

Ye  force  us,  if  we  must  reply. 

To  make  your  fears  increase  or  lie. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xxvill. 

WICKEDNESS  VS.  WISDOM 

Whatever  wisdom  leaves  wickedness  in  some  form 
has  entered.  Fundamentals  of  Education. 

WIFE,  THE 

Ah,  like  the  sky  encircling  the  sea, 
Embracing  his  thoughts  wherever  they  be, 

She  rests  above 

His  life  with  a  love 
That  binds  him  fast,  yet  leaves  him  free. 
Toward  her  his  thoughts  in  fancies  rise. 
Like  mists  aglow  in  the  sunset  skies, 

And  like  nights  here 

When  the  stars  appear, 
His  gloom  gives  way  at  the  glance  of  her  eyes. 

Would  God  her  heart  could  ever  abide, 
A  heaven  for  his  heart's  heaving  tide, 

Still  calm  above 

His  restless  love, 
And  all  the  storms  that  over  it  glide! 

The  Wife. 
WILL  {see  broad) 
Like  wrecks  that  up  and  down  are  toss'd. 
Till  plunged  beneath  the  waves  and  lost. 
How  aimlessly,  through  blame  and  praise. 
Through  depths  of  nights  and  heights  of  days, 
We  men  are  swept  along  our  ways ! 
But  have  our  lives  no  nobler  state 
Than  drifting  thus  with  tides  of  fate? — 
No  power  to  stem  them,  while  they  feel 
The  filling  sail,  the  whirling  wheel, 
The  steadfast  helm  that  guides  the  keel? 
Tho'  oft  our  course  be  turn'd  about 
By  wind  and  wave  of  hope  and  doubt, 
Come  all  our  motives  from  without? 
Does  not  some  impulse  oft  begin 
With  mind's  propelling  power  within? 


420  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Is  not  the  soul,  whose  low  depths  thrill, 
An  offspring  of  perfection  still; 
And  Godlike  by  creative  will? 

A  Life  in  Song:  Doubting,  xv. 

WILLOW  SWITCH 

....  You  never  break  a  boulder  with  a  willow 
switch. 

....  A  switch  might  crawl  beneath  the  boulder, 
and  dislodge  it,  and  make  it  fall.  Then  it  would  break 
itself.  On  Detective  Duty,  i. 

WILL-POWER 

There  is  not 
The  littlest  finger  of  the  littlest  nerve 
In  all  my  frame  here,  that  could  summon  power 
To  move  where  you  moved  not. 
....  Ah,  then  your  will 

Is  mightier  than  you  deemed  it?     You  can  rise 
But  when  you  wish  to  rise?     The  haunts  of  heaven 
Need  not  have  walls  to  keep  3^ou  out  of  them? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

WILL-POWER  MUST   BE   APPARENT   IN   TRAINING 

You  know  the  danger  for  a  man  who  trains  wild 
beasts,  if  accident  give  them  a  chance  to  taste  his 
blood.  So  sometimes  with  the  man  who  trains,  in 
school  or  camp  or  factory,  those  animals  that  we  term 
men.  His  will  is  what  directs  this  training;  and  when 
he  lets  what  fills  his  heart  leak  out,  they  note  his  loss 
of  will-power  far  more  than  presence  of  his  love.  A 
wise  man  never  lets  his  veins  he  drained  of  life-force  to 
augment  another's  force  till  sure  that  this  will  not  be 
turned  against  himself.     The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  I. 

WINDOW-BLINDS 

You  do  not  fear 
Insulting  nature  when  it  comes  to  bless  you 
With  window-blinds  barred  tight,  as  if  the  day 
Had  brought  not  light  but  lances? 

Dante,  11.,  i. 

WINE,  WHITE 

White,  not  so?     Its  hue 

Will  fit  the  sunny  air,  and  make  us  think 

Of  drinking-in  the  sunshine!     Columbus,  i.,  I. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  421 

WING,  ON  THE 

A  spirit  conscious  of  a  higher  mission 

Is  usually  on  the  wing.         Columbus,  11.,  3. 

WINNING   LOVE 

But  whenever  the  good  of  all  good  comes, 

That  most  is  worth  possessing, 
The  feast  of  which  all  else  are  crumbs, 

The  viand  of  which  the  dressing ; 

"When  comes  true  love  that  to  gain,  after  all, 
Is  the  one  thing  in  life  worth  doing, 

Men  think  it  will  yield  to  a  beck  or  a  call, 
And  does  not  need  pursuing. 

Ah,  fools,  as  little  of  good  we  earn 

By  ease  on  earth  as  by  sinning; 
A  love  for  which  we  are  wise  to  yearn 

Can  only  be  won  by  the  winning. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxvi. 

WISDOM 

Wisdom  is  not  that  knowledge  of  the  world  which 
the  eye  receives,  which  can  be  pictured  upon  its  pupil. 
It  is  the  methods  of  the  world  fused  into  thought,  often 
with  untold  sufferings, — the  image  of  the  actual  as 
photographed — amid  the  glowing  fervor  of  experience, 
burnt  in  upon  the  living  tissues  of  the  soul,  and  then 
kept  there  after  the  transient  din  and  smoke  of  words 
and  deeds  have  vanished. 

Suggestions  for  the  Spiritual  Life,  v. 

He  paused  the  sober  vineyard's  toil  to  see. 
If  wisdom  came,  let  go  what  came  before  it : 
'T  is  no  aristocrat  to  need  a  pedigree. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lviii. 

WISH  AND  WISDOM 

Thus,  like  two  cowards,  clinging  each  to  each, 
Weak  wish  nudged  wisdom,  and  weak  wisdom  wish. 
Who  gets  on  better?  Ideals  Made  Real,  xiii. 

WIT  and  WITS 
How  much  of  good  is  often  slain 
By  small,  sharp  shafts  of  wit,  without  restraint 
Shot  forth  in  sport,  and  lodged  where  one  hears  no 
complaint.        A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xxxviii. 


422  A  POET'S  CABINET 

The  light  mind  is  the  bright  mind.    Wit  and  wits 
Are  twins ;  without  the  other  each  is  lacking. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 
A  student  of  human  nature,  or  lunacy — much  the 
same  thing — finds  out  that  those  whose  wits  bubble 
over  the  first  are  the  first  to  lose  their  wits;  that 
the  mind  whose  thought  comes  first  as  a  joke  to  be 
cracked,  is  the  mind  that  is  first  to  be  cracked  itself. 

The  Ranch  Girl,  i. 

WITHIN 

It  is  within  that  love's  warm  springs  begin, 
Whose  genial  flow  makes  fertile  all  about. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  Lxxxvil. 

WOE 

Men  meet  woe 
As  moaning  orchards  meet  an  April  blast; 
Their  wounded  limbs  that  first  sway  to  and  fro 

Are  red  with  blossoms,  when  the  storm  has  past. 
So  sometimes  trouble  keeps  the  feelings  younger 

Than  ever  joy  could.    Many  souls  they  say. 
Deprived  of  light,  for  simple  sunbeams  hunger. 
And  robb'd  of  rest,  contract  no  mildew  of  decay. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  lxxxiv. 

WOES,  DEADLIEST 

Those  watching  death-beds,  mark 
That  souls,  when  dying,  ere  above  they  spring. 
Breathe  deep,  then  pass  away.    And  so  with  minds. 
When  come  the  deadliest  woes.    Down  deep  in  thought 
I  scarce  had  deem'd  that  aught  from  hell  could  roil 
Such  dregs  of  bitterness  long  undisturb'd. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xxix. 

WOMAN 

....  What,  pray,  is  a  woman? 

....  What 

Is  made  to  woo  a  man. 

The  Aztec  God,  TV.,  i. 
....  That  woman's  gowns 

Are  always  clinging  to  you — look  as  if 
She  thought  to  make  a  woman  of  yourself. 
Confound  their  sex ! 
....  Be  not  so  hard  on  them. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  423 

....  No,  they  are  soft, 

More  soft  than  cats,  and  mew,  too,  ay  and  scratch. 
Have  seen  their  blisters!  ay,  have  seen  a  man 
Whose  very  soul  had  been  scratched  out  by  one. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 

WOMAN  AND  WAR 

My  throbbing  heart 
Would  spend  its  blood  in  blushes  for  my  shame 
Till  it  forgot  to  give  my  being  life. 
If,  by  a  single  sigh,  I  durst  keep  back 
One  soldier  from  the  ranks  of  this  just  war. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ill.,  2, 

WOMAN   AS   A  man's   FOE 

A  man  need  not  have  vices  of  his  own  to  make  him 
squeal  when  squeezed  in  a  woman's  vise.  Remember 
Sampson.  Strength  and  steel  count  little  against 
the  subtle  weapons  of  a  woman. 

On  Detective  Duty,  ill. 

WOMAN,  AS  A  RULER  {see  FEELING) 

It  is  not 
In  nature  that  a  man  obey  a  woman. 
And  human  ways,  when  not  in  nature,  bode 
Inhuman  tampering  somewhere.    He  should  know 
That  none  can  turn  to  she  the  pronoun  he 
Without  an  5  that  puts  a  hiss  before  it. 

Columbus,  III.,  I. 

WOMAN,   HER   ELECTRIC   TOUCH 

That  in  men  which  yields  to  the  electric  touch  of  a 
woman  is  in  their  metal.  No  ordinary  tempering 
saves  it.  On  Detective  Duty,  ill. 

WOMAN,  HER  FUNCTION 

....  What  can  woman  do? — what  starts  with  her? 
.  .  .  .  No  matter  what.  Men  sow  the  seed,  you  think. 
How  could  it  grow,  were  it  to  find  no  soil  ? 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

WOMAN,  HER   MIND   VS.   MAN's 

"And  what,"  she  sigh'd,  "is  this 
"That  men-minds  do  so  well? — discriminate? 
Yet  even  I,  dull  woman,  I  can  see 
Brains  differ  in  their  grain.    But  men,  forsooth, 
Feel  so  much  matter  lodged  in  their  brains — eh? — 


424  A  POETS  CABINET 

That  they  weigh  mind  like  matter  in  the  lump, 
And  judge  of  character,  as  if  't  were  clay : — 
This  forms  a  man — has  wisdom,  firmness,  power; 
And  that,  a  maid — ^is  foolish,  fickle,  frail. 
And  never  can  be  wholly  safe,  forsooth, 
Except  when  subject  to  a  man,  her  lord!" 

Ideals  Made  Real^  x. 

WOMAN  SUPERFLUOUS  WHERE  NOT  NEEDED 

A  woman,  like  a  merchant's  wares,  can  never  seem 
too  dear  where  she  is  wanted.  But  in  a  place  where 
there  is  no  demand  for  her — well,  one  might  say  she 
might  be  shelved.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

WOMAN,   WHAT  A  MAN  LIKES    IN 

....  Is  it  kind  in  him  to  get  you  to  do  things  that 
Bernard  wouldn't  like? 

....  Why  should  everything  I  do  be  determined 
by  what  Bernard  likes  or  dislikes? 

....  Because  he's  such  a  good  fellow! — so  fine 
grained! — such  a  clear  complexion! — such  white 
teeth! — Why,  a  moment  ago,  when  he  came  in  here, 
and  was  standing  next  to  me,  his  breath  was  just  as 
sweet,  just  as  free  from  the  smell  of  whiskey  or  to- 
bacco, as  a  man  always  likes  to  find  a  girl's  when  he 
comes  near  her,  and  dreams  that,  possibly,  in  certain 
circumstances,  he  might  dare  to  kiss  her! 

....  {snatching  the  cigarette  from  her  mouth  and 
throwing  it  into  the  fireplace) .  Bah ! — It's  mean  of  you, 
all  the  same.  Where  Society  Leads,  ii. 

WOMAN,  WHEN  REJECTING  A  MAN 

I  swore  't  was  ever  so 
With  all  her  sex.     Worth  never  weigh'd  a  straw. 
A  very  satyr  could  outwoo  a  sage. — 
Weak  woman ! — yet  she  must  be  weak — in  brain 
Or  body.    Better  to  be  weak  in  brain ! 
She  then,  perchance,  might  serve  a  husband's  thought. 
And  wisdom's  voice  might  rule  the  family! 
But  were  her  moods  too  strong  to  serve  his  thought. 
She    might    serve    that    in    him    which    could    not 

think. — 
To  wed  she-brains,  a  man  should  seek  to  be 
Commended  as  a  fool!       Ideals  Made  Real,  xxxix. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  425 

WOMANHOOD 

Faith  always  waits 
On  perfect  womanhood.    Show  men  a  form 
Whose  outward  symmetry  of  nature  frames 
A  symmetry  of  soul,  whose  pure-hued  face 
Complexions  pureness  of  the  character, 
Whose  clear,  sweet  accents  outlet  clear,  sweet  thought, 
Whose  burning  eyes  flash  flame  from  kindled  love, 
And  all  whose  yielding  gracefulness  of  mien 
But  fitly  robes  all  grace-moved  sympathy, — 
Ay,  find  a  soul  whose  beauty  of  the  shield 
But  keeps  more  bright  the  blade  of  brain  because 
Of  what  seems  merely  ornament, — to  her 
All  men  will  yield  a  spirit's  loyalty. 
The  fairy-goddess  of  the  world  of  fact. 
Dream-sister  of  the  brotherhood  of  deed. 
An  angel  minister  as  well  as  queen, 
The  splendor  of  her  station  lifts  her  high 
But  like  the  sun  that  she  may  light  us  all. 

Columbus,  II.,  3. 

For  that  so  gentle,  babelike  sufferer, 
I  lost  all  fear;  and,  true  to  womanhood, 
I  loved  him  more  for  low  and  helpless  moans 
Than  ever  I  had  loved  him  when  in  health. 

Haydn,  xi. 

woman's  absorption  when  in  love 
....  What  a  fire  divine 

Must  blaze  within  a  woman's  heart,  who  deems 
That  her  one  form  illumined  by  its  light 
Casts  all  things  else  in  shade ! 

....  Do  men  love  less? 

....  Nay,  but  have  eyes  for  things  they  do  not  love. 

The  Aztec  God,  11. 
woman's  assurance 
True  to  her  sex,  unanswer'd  yet  assured. 
The  woman  left.  Ideals  Made  Real,  xii. 

woman's  character  revealed  in  private 
Strong  character  that  can  convert  and  use  another's 
thought  and  feeling  for  one's  own,  is  often  shown  by 
women  more  in  private  than  in  public. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 


426  A  POETS  CABINET 

woman's  grief,  and  man 
You  know  no  man  can  flinch  it :  woman's  grief, 
If  there  be  any  manhood  left  in  him, 
Will  rouse  his  efforts  to  bespeak  her  peace. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  xviii. 
woman's  influence 
And  she,  a  queen;  alas,  but,  like  a  queen. 
Was  doom'd  to  hold  a  throne  where  rivals  came, 
To  spy  her  weakness  out,  and  wrest  away 
A  power  that  could  be  kept  by  power  alone. — 
How  sad  for  woman  when  her  hopes  were  based 
On  practice  that  must  all  her  heart  conceal. 
That  must  be  conquering  ever  or  be  crush'd! 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LXIX. 

woman's  influence  on  life 
There  are  a  thousand  things  that  life  has  need 
of  that  only  women  have  the  brains  to  bring  it — 
the  comforts  of  the  home,  its  furnishings,  its  food,  the 
training  of  the  children  there,  the  tempering  of  the 
household  atmosphere  to  be  congenial  to  the  neigh- 
bors' households.  Let  men  control  in  business;  only 
women  can  rule  the  social  circle.  Man  may  make  a 
fortune,  but  it  is  the  woman  makes  the  fortune  for- 
tunate in  furthering  friendship. 

Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

woman's  influence  on  men's  manners 
We  men  are  so  polite  that,  in  that  fete  called  life, 
we  serve  what  might  be  termed  deserts  to  women  more 
often  than  to  men.  Their  temperament  seems  apter 
to  assert  the  subtle  law  that  like  attracts  the  like.  We 
men  may  have  the  strength  of  steel,  but  women  have 
a  magnetism  stronger  than  all  steel  and  draw  from  us 
the  thing  we  get  from  them.  If  they  be  gentle,  we  are 
gentlemen.  If  they  be  rude,  why,  we  are  rude  ourselves. 
Would  be  discourtesy,  forsooth,  to  meet  them  on 
terms  that  might  not  meet  their  approbation !  Humph , 
all  our  lives  they  keep  us  in  our  places  as  planets  do 
their  satellites.  Idem. 

woman's  love 
True  flames,  these  women  flicker  with  the  wind. 
But  use  you  breath  enough,  their  natures  yield. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  427 

Yet  blow  for  their  sakes,  not  for  your  ideals. 

One  seldom  finds  a  sweetheart  sweet  enough 

To  love  her  suitor's  pinings  for  mere  whims. 

Nay,  they  alone  our  all-in-all  would  be; 

And  so  are  jealous  of  our  male  ideals. 

Then,  too,  they  are  creative  less  than  we, 

And  cling  more  to  the  creature,  love  and  serve 

Embodied  life  that  may  be  seen  and  felt. 

You  doubt  me? — Test  it. — Read  that  rhyme  you  wrote. 

Inspired  by  fancy. — Say  so ; — still  they  hint 

"Ah,  this  was  she,  or  she,  whom  once  he  loved." 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LVi. 
woman's  thoughts 
A  woman's  thoughts  are  echoes,  and  she  echoes 
The  thoughts  that  have  been  nearest  his  heart  too 
To  whom  she  stands  the  nearest.      Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

WOMEN   AS    CONFIDANTES 

....  No  third  is  needed  where  one  starts  ex- 
changing confidences  with  women. 

....  Not  unless  he  wants  to  have  a  witness  in 
some  future  blackmail  suit.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

WOMEN   AS    SLAVES   AND   MASTERS 

How  women  love  their  fetters! — Best,  perhaps! 
They  make  sweet  slaves,  but  very  bitter  masters. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

WOMEN,  BEST  ENJOYED  WHEN  NOT  TOO  TALKATIVE 

Most  of  us  who  have  to  pitch  our  tones  against  a 
woman's  prefer  to  catch  them,  as  when  playing  ball, 
one  at  a  time.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  i. 

WOMEN,    EDUCATION    OF 

You  know  the  crystal  globes  clairvoyants  look  in, 
And   think   they   see  as  heaven   sees   then? — Some 

women 
Have  crystal  souls.    One  faces  them  to  find 
His  thoughts  divine,  himself  akin  to  God. 

....  If  that  be  woman's  nature 

....  It  is  not, 

Till  polished  in  the  friction  of  the  schools, 
Which  some  think  needless;  but  where  woman's  mind 
Has  never  been  made  bright,  the  thoughts  of  men 
Will  never  flash  for  it.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 


428  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Heaven  preserve 
The  world  from  women  rear'd  to  feel  but  weak, 
Whose  whole  experience,  nurtur'd  not  to  think, 
Unfolds  in  passions  pert  of  wishes  dwarf'd, 
Afraid  of  truth  and  dodging  to  deceit! 
Let  loose  from  home,  their  thing  that  ought  to  think 
Is  dry  and  hollow  as  a  sounding-board 
Behind  a  tongue  that,  like  a  weather  vane, 
Creaks  with  the  windy  scandal  of  the  town 
Till  endless  malice  make  one's  ear-drum  ache, 
At  one  spot  hammer'd  sore,  and  o'er  and  o'er. 
With  humdrum  gossip  of  surrounding  naught. 
Small  gain  are  they,  to  crown  our  courtships  grand, 
Prinked  out  with  flowers  and  flattery !    Wise  man ' 
Flowers  draw  the  bee,  and  flattery  the  fool. 
One  stings;  the  other — Laugh  not. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lvi. 

WOMEN,  FASHIONABLE,  AND  CIVILIZATION 

....  If  you  have  so  poor  an  opinion  of  women, 
why  did  you  marry  one — or  two  for  that  matter? — 
why  not  marry  a  man? 

....  It  was  not  the  fashion;  but,  if  things 
keep  on  as  they  have  been  going,  it  may  become 
so.  One  might  be  able  to  control  an  obstreperous 
boy! 

....  What  things  keep  on? 

....  The  processions  that  some  of  you  women — • 
but,  thank  God,  not  all  of  you  nor  the  most  of  you — • 
are  leading. 

....  Leading  where? 

....  At  the  top  and  bottom  of  society,  where,  at 
both  ends,  our  civilization  seems  going  to  rot. 

Where  Society  Leads,  ii. 

WOMEN,  FRIENDSHIP  OF 

You  know  it  well,  what  friendship  craves;  and  these 
Light,  simpering  women,  testing  manhood's  woof 
By  worthless  nap  that  tickles  their  vanity, — 
O  I  shall  wait  some  coming  woman,  I, 
Who  needs  no  suing  since  in  soul  we  suit; 
Nor  ruling  either. — Love  shall  rule  us  both. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  lvi. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  429 

WOMEN,    LOST 

....  A  pretty  girl  like  that  out  here  at  night! — 
She  might  get  into  trouble. 

....  Why?— Who  with? 

....  With  anyone  who  knows  what  life  is  worth. 

....  What  is  it  worth? 

....  When  you  have  bought  an  orange,  you  suck 
its  juice.    The  rest  you  throw  away. 

....  I  knew  you  New  York  people  did  that  sort  of 
thing  in  business. 

....  And  New  York  people — they  make  a  busi- 
ness of  everything. 

....  Get  out  of  men,  first,  all  that  they  are  worth, 
then  throw,  or  let  them  throw  themselves,  away? 
And  when  once  thrown  away,  are  lost  forever? 

....  Not  men,  not  always — women,  though,  most 
always ! 

....  Why  so? 

....  The  more  a  thing  is  worth,  the  more  it  usually 
weighs ;  the  more  it  weighs  the  more  it  sinks ;  the  more 
it  sinks,  the  less  its  likelihood  to  rise  itself,  or  to  be 
lifted  up  by  others.  The  Two  Paths,  iii. 

WOMEN  MUST  BE  MADE  AMENABLE  TO  LAW 

The  men  who  let  a  woman  start  stripping  them  of 
property,  and  not  protect  themselves,  would  be  about 
as  shameless  as  if  they  let  her  strip  them  of  their 
clothing.  Tuition  for  her  Intuition,  I. 

WOMEN,   POLITICAL   INFLUENCE  OF   {see  ENFRANCHISE- 
MENT) 

What  we  want  to  know  is  how  most  wisely  to  obtain 
the  thought  that  comes  from  women.  It  may  not  be 
true  that  suffrage  is  the  only,  or  the  best,  way.  One 
half  the  energy  now  spent  in  pushing  for  theoretic 
suffrage  might  bring  women  the  practical  results  of 
laws  they  need ;  nor  could  obtaining  suffrage  do  with- 
out the  energy  that  needs  expending  now.  For  years, 
I  lived  in  Washington,  a  place  where  no  one  votes; 
and  did  I  want  to  vote?  Not  I.  Why  not?  I  felt 
my  rights  more  safe  entrusted  to  representatives  of 
others  than  of  those,  myself  included,  who  would  have 
formed  the  voting  population.    The  principle  applies 


430  A  POET'S  CABINET 

to  all  our  suffrage.  Subtract  the  women  well  versed 
and  refined,  who  find  the  polls  distasteful;  then  add 
up  the  numbers,  just  the  opposite,  of  women  inclined 
to  move  in  flocks,  with  feeling  swayed  as  party-friend 
or  foe  may  urge  or  force,  and  what  would  follow? — 
You  would  lessen  vastly  what  now  is  much  too  small 
here, — the  proportion  of  well-informed  and  indepen- 
dent voters.  You  think  it  wise  to  risk  results  like 
that?  Idem,  I. 

WOMEN,  RUNNING  AWAY  FROM 

Alone?   Alone? — 
With  all  those  maidens  praying  for  your  presence? 
....  I  dodged  behind  a  tree,  then,  when  they  left, 
Came  here. 

....  A  valiant  warrior! 

....  Yes — with  men. 

....  With  women? 

....  He  with  her  I  think  is  valiant 

Who  waives  what  would  be  force. 
.  .  .  .  And  runs  away? 

....  Why,  yes,  if  elsewise  he  might  be  ungentle. 

The  Aztec  God,  III. 

WONDERS 

Who  search  the  world,  most  wonder  there  to  see 
How  few  the  wonders  are,  where'er  they  stray. 
Behold,  the  same  fair  children,  wild  with  glee; 

The  same  proud  parent,  watching  where  they  play; 
The    same    strong    men,   bent    downward    by  life's 
troubles ; 
The  same  sad  dames  with  tired  eyes  turn'd  above ; 
The  same   small   graves   where   drop   life's    bursted 
bubbles. 
Made  dark  by  fears  of  ill,  and  bright  by  hopes  of 
love.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  LXXVi. 

WOODS  {see  music  of  nature) 
Away  from  ways  where  human  wills  outwit 
The  wisdom  that  has  made  earth  what  it  is, 
To  where,  in  that  true  temple  of  the  spirit. 
The  winds  are  whispering  what  men  know  not  of, 
And  flower  and  leaf  are  trembling  like  the  heart 
That  feels  the  presence  of  the  power  divine. — 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  431 

WORD 

Where  thought  appeals  to  thought 
The  only  sovereign  is  the  wisest  word, 
Which  sometimes  is  the  last  word; — any  way, 
Is  always  of  the  spirit,  and  needs  not 
Accoutrements  and  courtesies  of  form 
To  prove  its  prestige.     We  can  waive  them,  then. 
And  let  the  spirit  prompt  us  as  it  may. 

Columbus,  II.,  2. 
WORDS  (see  call,  speech  and  talk) 
Words  are  like  wrinkles,  external  marks  of  internal 
moods.     Sometimes  by  tracing  back  the  derivation  of 
a  word,  one  may  find  out  the  mental  condition  that 
originated  it.  Art  in  Theory,  xvii. 

More  to  them  all  than  any  one  of  these 
Is  he  whose  words,  confined  not  by  the  grave, 
Still  cheer  their  thoughts,  and  guide  them  in  their  deeds, 
And,  oft  repeated  to  each  other,  keep 
As  bright  his  memory  as  do  stars  by  night 
The  light  of  suns  that  long  have  sunk  to  rest. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Finale. 
Mere  words  are  wind ;  nor  all  their  storm  or  stress 
Can  pack  the  air  so  thought  cannot  see  through  it. 

Datile,  II.,  I. 
When  sworn  to  enter  honor's  list, 
Of  which  his  fellows  could  or  would  not  know. 
His  frank  soul  merely  thought  the  truth  to  show. 
But  he  had  stopt  at  words;  and  earth,  that  yells 

To  cheer  the  gold-laced  swaggerers,  who  but  go 
Unwhipt  before  their  trump  to  onset  swells. 
Will  stand  no  words  in  protest — better  cap-and-bells! 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lxvii. 
Let  thought-built  systems  fail  each  modern  test; 
On  truth  beneath  all  systems  faith  may  rest. 
On  truth  unshaken  by  earth's  changing  facts. 
Inspiring  pure  desires  and  generous  acts. 
Where  spirit  reigns  alone,  and  through  all  creeds 
Impels  all  good  men  toward  the  self-same  deeds, 
Who  learn  that  though  their  words  be  contrary, 
All  worthy  souls  have  inward  sympathy. 

Idem,  Seeking,  liv. 


432  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Without  a  word 
We  walk'd  at  first,  like  pilgrims  near  a  shrine 
They  much  revere,  who,  fill'd  with  thrills  too  fine 
To  throb  through  words  accented,  satisfy 
Their  souls  by  feeling  that  the  god  is  nigh. 

Idem,  IX. 

WORDS,  AS  ELEMENTS  OF  BELIEF 

The  walls  were  always  echoing  back  the  words 
You  spoke;  and  no  one  else  was  let  to  speak. 
....  All  heard  what  they  believed. 
....  Could  they  do  else 

Than  to  believe  what  they  were  always  hearing? — 
Dear  words,  how  we  must  thank  them  for  our  faith ! 

Cecil  the  Seer,  ii.,  2. 

WORDS    OF    TRUTH 

Clear  as  light,  come  proofs  to  show 
How  the  breath  of  truth  is  keener  than  the  bayonets  of 

its  foe ; 
How  the  gentlest  words  can  waken  consternation  and 

despair ; 
Though  they  leave  no  track  behind  them;  nor  with 

shadows  dim  the  air ; 
Do  not  glisten  in  the  sunshine;  do  not  thunder  o'er  the 

plain ; 
Do  not  flash  the  cannon's  lightning ;  leave  no  smoke  to 

shroud  the  slain ; — 
Words  of  truth,  re-echoed  like  the  words  of  Christ, 

that  everywhere, 
When  they  summon  powers  that  lurk  in  forms  pos- 

sess'd  of  evil  there, 
Make  them  rend  the  form  that  held  them,  leave  it 

writhing  on  the  ground. 
While  their  spirits  fly  to  darkness  and  forgetfulness 

profound.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  iv. 

WORDS,  PASSIONATE  {see  ANGER,  IMPETUOUS  and 

passion) 
Those  words  were  but  a  whiff,  whiff  light  as  breath 
One  blows  at  flies  that  come  to  trouble  him. 
And  can  it  be  that  they? — I  half  believe 
(My  words  have  conjured  cursed  deeds  before) 
The  very  atoms  of  the  air,  like  pools, 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  433 

Hold  spawn-strown  vermin-eggs !    If  one  but  speak, 
But  break  the  silence;  if  his  breath  but  bear 
One  faintest  puff  from  passionate  heat  within, 
Lo,  breaking  open  some  accursed  shell, 
It  hatches  forth  foul  broods  of  venomous  life 
That  come,  blown  backward  by  the  changing  wind, 
To  haunt  him  who  provok'd  their  devilish  birth! 
By  day  they  sting  our  eyes,  and  make  us  weep; 
By  night  steal  through  unguarded  gates  of  sense. 
And  sting  our  souls  in  dreams ! — My  heart !  and  you  ? — 
How  could  you  deem  my  thoughtless  words  to  be 
The  voice  of  so  deform'd  a  wish  as  this? 

Haydn,  xxxvi. 

WORDS  THAT  ARE  WEAPONS 

True  words  alone  are  weapons  of  true  thought. 

If  I  be  free  to  use  these,  I  am  free 

To  be  truth's  champion.    If,  to  gain  the  place 

You  wish  me,  or  to  hold  it,  being  gained, 

I  let  my  tongue  be  tied,  I  live  a  slave.        Idem. 

Trust  not  in  words  with  wind  alone  to  back  them. 
Nothing  is  quite  so  empty  as  the  sky 
Behind  a  blow,  when  once  it  has  blown  by. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

WORDS  THAT  HURT 

....  We  exchanged  some  words 

....  And  flung  them  hard  to  make  them  hurt  the  thing 
They  hit,  not  so? — They  made  your  faces  red. 

Dante,  i.,  2. 
WORDS  vs.  DEEDS  {see  DEEDS  and  talk) 

Not  how  men 
Can  fight  the  air  with  words,  but  how  their  frames 
Can  back  their  words  with  deeds  that  free  their  air 
Of  all  that  blocks  right  doing,  this  is  that 
By  which  a  man  reveals  his  worth  in  life. 

Idem,  II.,  I. 
Wise  men  don't  trust  the  words  of  those  whose 
works  deceive.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  ill.,  i. 

WORDS,    WHEN    INFLUENTIAL 

Words  are  a  currency  that  owe  their  worth 
Less  to  their  substance,  often,  than  their  source. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 
28 


434  A  POETS  CABINET 

WORK  (see  FAITH  and  knowledge) 
The  air  of  heaven  to-day  is  full  of  sunshine. 
Shut  in  here  do  you  feel  it?     No;  none  do 
But  those  who  journey  forth  to  do  life's  work. 

Dante,  ii.,  i. 

WORK  MAKES  MEN  VALUE  THINGS 

It's  those  whose  work  has  earned  them  homes  who 
prize  them,  and  will  work  to  keep  them. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  ill.,  2. 

WORK,  UNDERTAKEN  TO  DROWN  GRIEF 

I  strove  to  drown  my  grief  in  work.    The  work 
Was  but  a  worm's  that  eats  from  day  to  day 
The  morrow's  bed,  at  morning  dragging  on 
A  soulless  trunk,  through  troubles  void  of  hope. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LXII. 

WORK  vs.  RECREATION  {see  REST) 

Men  measure  all  a  day  is  worth  by  work  that  they 
can  do  in  it.  Just  think! — One  might  as  well  say  skies 
were  made  for  clouds,  and  not  for  suns,  or  years  for 
winter,  not  for  summer;  or  plants  for  thorns,  and  not 
for  roses;  or  life  for  men,  and  not  for  women;  or  lips 
for  drinking;  not — tut,  tut! — A  day's  worth  measured 
by  its  work ! — As  if  a  man's  day  were  a  donkey's.  Our 
donkey  takes  his  pleasure  on  the  farm  exactly  once  a 
year;  so  papa.  The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  i. 

WORKING  FOR  A  LIVING 

A  few  centuries  ago,  both  the  souls  and  bodies  of 
those  who  worked  for  a  living,  whether  men  or  women, 
were  supposed  to  belong  to  those  for  whom  they 
worked.  To-day  this  sort  of  thing  is  played  out. 
Those  who  work  for  themselves  are  the  most  likely  to 
be  independent, — to  belong  to  nobody  but  themselves, 
and  therefore  the  most  worthy  of  respect  for  what 
they  are  in  themselves. 

The  Snob  and  the  Sewing  Girl,  11. 

WORKING  WOMEN  VS.  ARISTOCRATIC  (see  ARISTOCRACY) 

....  A  woman  of  the  working  classes 

....  Is  not  of  the  aristocratic  classes.  I  know  it. 
They  do  not  work.  They  expect  others  to  work  for 
them.  Humph! — I  know  plenty  of  them,  who  go  in 
the  very  best  society, — ay,  in  our  society,  too — who. 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  435 

rather  than  lift  one  finger  to  do  any  work  for  themselves, 
would  prefer  to  have  others  steal  for  them.         Idem. 

WORLD 

The  world  for  every  man 
Holds  but  his  own  world,  be  it  large  or  small. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xv. 

WORLD,    LEAVING    THE 

God  made  our  nature.    Who  make  way  with  it, 
Alake  way  with  manhood,  turn  to  suicide. 
He  made  the  world  where  works  His  Providence 
To  train  our  life.    Who  leave  the  world,  leave  Him — 

Haydn,  xlii. 

WORLD,  THE  NEW,  DESCRIBED  BY  COLUMBUS 

You  see  what  we  have  brought: — 
These  birds  and  animals  unknown  to  Spain, 
All  promising  vast  wealth  in  plumes  and  furs; 
These  trees  and  plants  that  grow  like  reeds  in  swamps, 
And  covered  thick  as  leaves  with  ready  food ; 
These  aromatic  herbs,  in  which  all  forms 
Of  sickness  find  a  sure  and  natural  cure; 
This  gold  that  lies  upon  the  soil  like  dust, 
Or  else  like  pebbles  tumbling  from  the  cliffs, 
And  easily  moulded  into  ornaments; 
These  pearls  and  gems  that  line  the  river-beds. 

Columbus,  IV.,  2. 
But  what  that  land  contains  is  in  supply 
As  far  beyond  the  treasure  here,  as  is 
A  whole  vast  continent  beyond  the  store 
That  can  be  packed  in  one  small  vessel.    Yes, 
That  realm  of  boundless  wealth  in  rock  and  soil 
And  boundless  progress  for  the  state  and  soul, 
Past  all  that  human  fancy  can  conceive, 
Lies  there,  embed  in  crystal  seas  and  skies, 
A  wondrous  gift,  fresh  from  the  hand  of  God, 
As  if  untarnished  by  the  touch  of  man, 
Awaiting  your  most  Christian  Majesties.     Idem. 
Add  these  brave  people,  sons  of  God  like  us, 
With  generous  natures  and  compliant  wills, 
Who  met  us  kneeling,  as  we  knelt  on  shore, 
With  reverent  souls  prepared  by  heaven  itself 
To  welcome  us  as  heavenly  messengers.      Idem. 


436  A  POET'S  CABINET 

They  thought  us  fresh  from  heaven: 

Our  flesh  was  fair;  that  wide,  wild  sea  our  slave. 

Oh,  what  a  race  to  be  made  Christians  of ! 

Idem,  IV.,  I. 

Out  there, 
Except  with  chiefs — it  is  the  same,  you  know,  ■ 
With  our  high  classes — people  live  in  pairs, 
As  birds  do;  and,  myself,  I  saw  no  hint 
Of  lust  or  competition.    They  all  seem 
To  love  their  neighbors  as  themselves,  and  own 
All  things  in  common.    Why,  to  us  they  gave 
Whatever  we  could  ask ;  and  often  too 
Without  the  dimmest  prospect  of  return. 

Idem, 

WORLD,  THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  THIS 

•  You  villain,  to  say  that ! 
.  .  .   ,  Humph!    I  have  seen  the  world,  and  tell  you 

truth. 
You  deem  the  truth  is  villainy? — it  is — 
The  truth  about  this  world. 

The  Aztec  God,  iv.,  i. 

WORLD,  THE,  VS.   THE  CHURCH  (see   CHURCH,  FORM  AND 

SPIRIT,  and  training) 
....  Poor  youth,  when  you  know  more  about  the 

world 

....  I  shall  know  more  about  such  men  as  you ; 
Know  how  the  dust  of  earth  can  make  one  blind. 
And  din  can  make  one  deaf,  till  skies  can  blaze 
And  heaven's  voice  thunder,  yet  no  sight  nor  sound 

Reach 

....        What?— 

....  What  was  a  soul !     But  there  are  souls 

Are  stolen  too  when  stoled.    The  devil's  hand 
Outdoes  the  deacon's.    There  is  nothing  left 
But  vestment.    All  the  barterer's  priceless  birthright 
Goes  for  the  mess  of  pottage  that  he  feeds  on. 
Not  strange  such  like  to  limit  other's  joys, 
Turn  nature  inside  out  and  upside  down, 
Claim  spirit  rules  where  all  are  slaves  of  sense, 
And  heaven  their  realm  though  all  is  rimmed  by  hell. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  437 

"The  world,"  what  means  this,  but  the  world  alone, — 
The  mass,  devoid  of  mind,  truth,  spirit,  love? — 
But  holds  no  Church  the  same? — A  mass? — ay,  ay. 
Devoid  of  mind? — Why  not? — But  show  the  place 
It  crowds  not  reason  out  to  edge  in  faith. — 
But  "faith,"  say  you,  "is  reasonable"? — Ay, 
When  in  it  there  is  reason;  when  the  thing 
"In  which  it  trusts  is  truth.     But,  ah,  too  oft, 
Just  prick  the  forms,  and  back  of  them  you  find — 
What.'' — truth? — nay,  nay,  a  priest — a  man. 

Haydn,  Li. 

woRLDLiNEss  {see  spiritual) 

Some  more,  some  less,  with  little  to  love, 
We  all  to  the  sky  oft  leave  the  dove. 
We  delve  away  in  the  depth  of  our  trade; 
And  all  get  dusty  before  well  paid. 
Some  hke  the  dust;  some  mourn  its  need; 
And  some  are  only  intent  to  succeed. 
Too  may  grow  prostitutes,  hugging  to  all, 
Good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  beauty  or  scall. 
Till  all  wishes  that  worth  would  have  kept 
Die  out  of  the  man  unwept. 
No  pride  or  shame  for  himself  or  his  kind 

Brings  up  to  the  cheek  one  blush. 

Whatever  is  there  is  a  counterfeit  flush, — 
Mere  paint  on  the  surface  of  sham  behind. 

Love  and  Life,  Liii. 

Ah,  now, 
I  know  how  Adam  grieved  that  Eve  could  fall ; 
How  Eve  herself,  when  round  her  soul  first  crept 
The  serpent's  cautious  coils  of  smooth  deceit, 
To  strap  her  inch  by  inch !     I  read  it  now, 
That  tale:  't  is  all  an  allegory,  ay; — 
That  serpent  means  the  world.      The  world  steals 

round. 
Intent  to  seize  and  own  each  heir  of  heaven. 
Not  long  are  souls  allow'd  ideal  life, 
Not  long  unfetter'd  sense  or  hearts  unbound: 
Our  smiles  grow  stiffer,  till,  some  fatal  day. 
The  last  is  clutch'd  and  held,  a  hideous  grin. 
Then,  when  the  body  stirs  not  with  the  soul, 


438  A  POET'S  CABINET 

The  last  nerve  wrested  from  the  Spirit's  rule, 
Naught  in  us  left  of  love,  the  world  unwinds: 
Our  capturer  dissolves  in  mist  or  dust : — 
And  we,  for  its  embrace,  have  lost  our  God!  ' 

Haydn,  L. 
WORLDLY  (see  LUST,  SOUL  and  spirit) 
This  world  has  ways  where  far  we  roam 
From  the  purer  light 
That  our  souls  deem  bright, 
And  yet  this  world  is  now  our  home; 

And  planted  here  for  some  good  cause 

Like  seed  to  grow 

In  a  soil  below, 
The  laws  of  our  lives  are  worldly  laws. 

We  cannot  live  the  life  on  high, 

We  cannot  be 

In  all  things  free. 
Till  the  flower  shall  bloom  and  its  fragrance  fly. 

Till  then,  hemm'd  in  from  heaven  by  earth, 

'T  is  ours  to  reach 

For  the  good  in  each ; 
Nor  waive  the  higher  for  lower  worth. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Loving,  xxxil. 

WORLDLY    WAYS 

If  wiser  than  the  world  we  were. 
Why  should  we  act,  forsooth,  in  worldly  ways? 
What  need  that  all  should  don  the  uniform 
That  fits  men  for  the  social  march  of  fools? 

Ideals  Made  Real,  LXii. 

WORMS,   CRUSHING 

The  corner  stones  of  monumental  deeds 
Must  always  crush  some  worms. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 
WORRY  {see  JAR  OF  life) 
Does  not  the  world,  then,  worry  life  enough, — 
That  one  should  crave  for  more  to  worry  him? 
Do  I  so  lack  for  exercise?     Ah  me! 
Some    nervous    mothers — bless    them! — shake    their 

babes. 
I  never  deem'd  it  wise;  oh,  no — am  sure 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  439 

The  friction  frets  the  temper  of  the  child. — 

Not  natural,  you  see:  God  never  shakes 

The  ground  with  earthquakes  when  we  wish  for  spring. 

He  does  not  drive  life  from  its  germ,  He  draws 

By  still,  bright  warmth.  Haydn,  xvi. 

WORSHIP  OF  GOD  {see  FORM  AND  SPIRIT,  and  ritualism) 
How  vain  is  worship,  when  its  grandeur  calls 

Regard  away  from  heaven  to  human  skill ! 
Far  better  level  all  our  temples'  walls 

Than  hide  the  thought  of  Him  who  rear'd  the  hill! 
Ay,  better  hush  the  praise  that  stirs  the  senses. 

Than  have  it  drown  the  still  small  voice  within ; 
And  better  have  no  church  for  our  offenses 

Than  splendid  rites  that  daze  the  soul  made  blind 
to  sin.  A  Life  in  Song:  Serving,  xliv. 

And,  think  you,  writ  or  vestment,  art  or  arch, 
Can  image  Him,  or  His  domain  unbound? 
Nay,  trust  my  word,  we  worship  Him  the  best. 
When  two  or  three  together,  loving  truth 
And  one  another,  thus  repeat,  once  more, 
An  incarnation,  imitating  Christ. 

Ideals  Made  Real,  Lxxiii. 
As  men's  lives  are,  so  their  thoughts  are;  groping  in 

the  dark  they  feel 
Forms  of  flesh  or  robes  that  wrap  them,  and  forget 

what  both  conceal. 
Clouds  hang  low,  and  hide  the  sky,  and  make  men 

think  that  heaven  is  low, 
Till  they  kiss  the  dust,  half  hoping  God  is  dust,  and 
worshipt  so.  A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  iv. 

In  a  sense, 
All  worship  .  .  .  springs  from  what  is  true. 
For  if  to  sin  it  ever  could  be  due, 
Could  grafts  of  true  religion  flourish  now 
Upon  the  old  religious  nature's  bough? 
But  if,  in  spite  of  tendencies  to  sin. 
We  still  believe  men's  motives  pure  within. 
Then  all  that  God  has  made  appears  to  be — 
Be  leaf,  limb,  flower,  or  fruit  the  part  we  see — 
Some  perfect  part  still  of  life's  perfect  tree. 

Idem,  Seeking,  xxiv. 


440  A  POET'S  CABINET 

WORSHIP   OF   MEN 

Worship  is  the  interest  men  pay 
For  worth  when  they  can  get  it — justly  due 
To  men  of  principle.  Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

If  any  idol's  niche  be  tenantless, 
The  one  all  worship  is  the  one  all  want  there. 

Idem. 

WORTH 

Too  often  in  the  judgments  of  this  world 
Worth  yields  to  weight.  Columbus,  i.,  3. 

WORTH,  ETERNAL 

The  force  that  keeps  eternal  worth  from  light 
Is  but  of  time — a  thing  short-lived. 

Idem,  v.,  2. 

WRECKED,  A  LIFE 

How  fast  he  fails !     If  there  were  once  a  time 
We  feared  he  might  be  wrecked,  a  time  has  come 
When  his  firm  spirit  reels,  the  prey  of  waves 
Far  worse  than  waves  that  sweep  the  sea  alone. 
Such  havoc  has  fierce  envy  wrought  in  him, 
What  wonder  if  soon  nature,  in  revolt. 
Should  doff  the  guise  this  world  has  torn  to  rags 
And  give  him  som_ething  richer?  Idem. 

WRECKED  AND  RESCUED 

Then  soon,  as  a  coffin  falls  to  a  grave, 

The  yawl  sank  down,  but  alack! 
Like  fingers  white  the  crests  of  the  wave 

Were  clutching  and  flinging  it  back. 
Then,  whirled,  as  it  were,  in  a  drunkard's  dance, 

It  staggered,  anon,  and  lunged. 
Then,  tilted  aside,  like  a  hostile  lance. 

At  the  hull  of  the  wreck  it  plunged. 
Three  times,  in  vain,  that  helpless  yawl 

Toward  the  deck  of  the  wreck  was  tost. 
Three  times  the  wrecked,  as  it  back  would  fall, 

Looked  down  with  the  look  of  the  lost. 
Then  shouts  came  snapping  like  whips  the  blast, 

The  yawl  to  the  boom  had  clung; 
And,  one  by  one,  from  the  wreck,  at  last. 

Black  forms  like  bales  were  flung. 

The  Religion  of  Rescue. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  441 

WRINKLE  {see  words) 
A  wrinkle  shows  the  will. 

How  Barton  Took  the  General. 

WRINKLED 

Brows  always  knit  grow  wrinkled  in  their  prime. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xxx. 

WRITING  {see  LITERATURE,  POEMS  and  POETS) 
WRITING  ABOUT  VS.  RIGHTING  EVILS 

....  I  don't  believe  in  writing  about  evils  and, 
at  the  same  time,  not  trying  to  right  them. 

....  But  Dick  and  Jack  say  that's  what  they  are 
trying  to  do. 

....  They  could  do  it  much  more  effectively. 

....  How? 

....  If  they  think  that  it's  the  millionaires  that 
cause  society  to  be  corrupt,  it's  their  first  duty  to  cease 
to  be  millionaires.  What  Money  Cant  Buy,  iv 

WRITING,  AND  FEELING 

....  How  do  you  feel  when  you  write  that  sort  of 
thing? 

....  Feel? 

....  Yes ;  a  man  can't  be  inspired  without  feeling 
it,  can  he? 

....  I  should  think  you  would  feel  Hke  a  balloon 
when  it  has  lost  its  ballast,  and  gone  bounding  up 
into  the  highest  sunshine. 

....  Or  like  a  hen  that  has  dropped  an  egg,  and  is 
trembling  into  cackles  from  sheer  nervous  exhaustion. 

....  Or  like  a  fellow  who  has  flooded  himself 
with  so  much  beer  that  he  is  obliged  to  belch  it  over- 
board— very,  very  light-headed.  Idem,  11. 

WRITING  AS  RELATED  TO  ART 

A  man  need  not  be  a  genius,  in  order  to  write  well, 
and  if  he  be  a  genius,  he  cannot  write  well  without 
developing  his  gift  according  to  the  methods  common 
to  every  art.  The  Literary  A  rtist  and  Eloctttion. 

WRONG,  ENDURING  CHARACTER  OF 

Who  can  tell 
What  ages  it  may  take  to  overtake 
The  wrong  one's  own  wrong  lashes  into  flight ! 

Cecil  the  Seer,  11.,  2. 


442  A  POET'S  CABINET 

WRONG,   FIGHTING  AND   RIGHTING 

....  To  yield  to  wrong,  is  not  to  fight  it. 
....  To  double  wrong,  is  not  to  right  it. 

The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  III.,  2. 

WRONG,   ONE  OVERBALANCING   MUCH    RIGHT 

It  is  not  what  has  been  but  what  is  that  moves  the 
senses,  which,  far  more  than  sense,  determine  human 
judgments.  This  is  why,  I  take  it,  that  so  often  one 
careless  wrong  can  overbalance  a  life-long  care  in 
doing  right. 

....  But  is  that  just? 

....  No;  true.        The  Little  Twin  Tramps,  iv. 

WRONG  THAT  THRIVES 

Wrong  that  thrives,  becomes  presumption;  plans  to 
make  the  right  retreat ; 

Blows  with  madden'd  lips  the  trumpet  heralding  its 
own  defeat, 

Blows,  till  righteous  indignation  hails  its  opportunity, 

Glad  to  break  a  guilty  peace,  and  crush  its  foe  eter- 
nally. A  Life  in  Song:  Watching,  in. 

YANKEES 

In  our  right  merry  State  of  Maryland, 
No  Yankees  with  their  endless  reprimand 
Make  men  run  mad  with  isms  fit  to  wear 
Strait- jackets!  we  their  notions  will  not  stand. 

Idem,  Daring,  xlviii. 

YEARS,    EFFECTS    OF 

A  few  short  years,  how  soon  their  sun  and  storm 
And  shifting  seasons  change  one's  face  and  frame ; 

And  what  one  vaguely  deems  himself,  transform 
To  that  which  friend  and  foe  alike  disclaim: 
How  calm  the  heart,  which  once  those  calls  to  fame 

Thrill'd  through  like  beatings  of  a  signal  drum ! 

Those  throbs,  by  turns,  of  hope   and   fear,  how 
tame ! — 

Familiar  ticks  of  life's  old  pendulum, 

Wound  up  to  vibrate  on  till  hope  and  fear  are  dumb. 

Idem,  XII. 

YGGDRASIL 

While  thus  he  spoke,  I,  dead  to  sight  and  sound. 
Had  walk'd  abstracted,  till  I  mark'd  around 


SELECTED   QUOTATIONS  443 

Strange  shadows  quivering  over  all  the  ground, 

The  which,  anon,  far  darker  would  be  made. 

They  startled  me;  for  what  had  caused  the  shade? 

No  tree  nor  cliff  about  us  rose  between 

The  moon-light  and  ourselves  to  form  a  screen. 

But  when  I  glanc'd  above,  there  met  my  sight 

As  high  as  clouds  could  be,  as  wild  a  light 

As  ever  man  could  see, — light  coming  not 

From  moon  or  stars;  one  could  not  judge  from  what. 

As  lightning  were,  if  constant,  so  it  glared 

Athwart  the  sky,  and  tore  and  cross'd  and  flared. 

That  strange  scene  lasted  long;  but  yet  the  moon 

In  time  came  forth  again.    Then  climbing  soon 

Some  mighty  ledges,  we  at  last  survey'd 

From  distant  heights  the  forms  that  caused  the  shade : 

We  saw  the  giant  ash  Yggdrasil  now 

That  loom'd  with  many  a  thick  and  swaying  bough 

Above  the  plain  through  which  our  feet  had  pass'd. 

But  think  not  leaves  that  had  the  shadows  cast 

Had  bridg'd  but  our  short  pathway,  and  no  more. 

The  Hmbs  were  leagues  in  length,  and  rose  to  soar 

Above  the  earth  like  mountain-forests  wide. 

Yet  cloud-borne,  needing  not  a  mountain-side. 

They  cover'd  all  the  north,  yet  hung  as  high 

Above  the  darkness  of  the  western  sky; 

And  far  off  through  the  east  they  stretch'd  away 

Till  flushing  at  the  touch  of  coming  day. 

Ah,  where  was  ever  aught  like  this  tree  seen! 

Beside  it,  a  mere  wind-bent  twig,  I  ween 

Was  that  Aswatha  by  the  Hindoo  known. 

Or  Persia's  Gogard,  or  the  Zampuh  grown 

In  Thibet — figured  o'er  with  mystic  signs 

Which  made  but  little  wise  its  wise  divines — 

Or  Eden's  too,  reputed  to  have  grown 

The  seeds  of  these  through  every  nation  sown. 

Of  them  my  guide  discours'd,  the  while  we  scann'd 
Yggdrasil's  roots ;  one  in  the  west  where  band 
The  fiends  of  darkness  in  their  foul  Mistland : 
And  there  the  serpent  lies  like  lengthen'd  night, 
And  gnaws  the  bark,  nor  sates  his  appetite; 
And  one  was  in  the  north  where  Frost-Kings  dwell, 


444  A  POET'S  CABINET 

And  drafts  of  wisdom  drink  from  Mimir's  well, 
While  ever  in  its  crystal  depths  below 
The  cool  brain  sees  the  mirror'd  pole-star  glow; 
And  one  was  in  the  east,  hard  by  the  morn 
And  Urdar-fountain,  where  the  patient  Norn 
Perceives  the  present,  future,  and  the  past, 
Nor  slights  the  small,  nor  shudders  at  the  vast. 
Thence,  heaved  from  earth  to  heaven,  bridged  o'er 

the  dark, 
The  rainbow-bifrost  bends,  on  which  we  mark 
Its  warden,  Heimdall,  who  his  vigil  keeps 
With  marvelous  ears,  which,  even  while  he  sleeps 
With  birdlike  lightness,  hear  the  grasses  grow 
And  wool  on  sheep  ten  thousand  miles  below! 
Beyond  his  place  uploom  high  Asgard-homes 
Of  gods,  and  Gladsheim  with  its  golden  domes. 
There  too,  along  Idavollr's  wondrous  fields, 
Vingolf  appears,  which  hush'd  retirement  yields 
For  Frigga  and  her  suite, — a  wilderness 
Of  lawns  and  lanes  and  arbors  numberless, 
Dim  nights  of  groves  and  glowing  days  of  flowers, 
And  lakes  and  streams  and  fairy  fountain  showers, — 
A  place  where  wish  could  every  want  confess, 
And  all  desire  be  drugged  in  drowsiness. 

Idem,  Seeking,  xxx-xxxii. 

YIELD 

Shall  we  fight? 
It  might  be  useless ;  and  it  must  be  wise 
To  keep  the  right,  when  with  us,  with  us  yet. 
No;  let  us  yield.     My  brother,  there  are  times 
When  wrongs  are  great  that  they  may  be  perceived 
And  emphasize  the  need  of  their  redress. 

Columbus,  v.,  I. 

YIELDING 

So  gentle,  so  yielding,  your  face  all  aglow 
To  follow  each  friend,  and  never  say  "No," 
The  skies  too  cloudless  dawned  for  you. 
Too  sunny  and  warm — oh,  nothing  grew! 
Your  golden  fields  that  we  fondly  saw 
Were  filled  with  a  grainless  crop  of  straw. 

The  Last  Home  Gathering. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  445 

YOUNG  VS.  OLD  MAN 

You  are  a  young  man  with  a  young  man's  dreams. 
You  are  an  old  man;  and  an  old  man  schemes. 

Cecil  the  Seer,  i. 

YOUTH  {see  BOY  and  children) 

Too  young  as  yet  to  know 
How  youth  alone  to  human  love  is  dear, 
Before  warm  tides  of  life  in  veins  that  glow, 
Have  lost  the  heat  and  hue  of  heaven  from  which  they 
flow.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  xliii. 

Ye,  as  well,  with  new  hearts  beating  in  the  ranks  of 

human  life ; 
Ye  whose  youth  itself  assures  us  good  will  still  main- 
tain the  strife; 
Ye  whose  tread  is  recreation,  and  whose  every  breath 

a  joy. 
Not  exhausted  yet  in  paths  that  earthly  smoke  and 

dust  annoy; 
Ye  whose  cheeks  to  flame-hue  kindle,  fired  by  all  the 

faith  ye  feel, 
Not  yet  frosted  by  the  winters  that  have  chill'd  men's 

older  zeal ; 
Ye  whose  eyes  are  skies  to  spirits,  whirl'd  as  worlds 

from  change  to  change, 
Not  yet  check'd  by  disappointment,  so  ye  dare  not 

test  the  strange; 
Ye  whose  wills  ne'er  cringed  in  failure  nor  surrendered 

flags  of  hope, 
But  can  look  for  victory  still  in  highest  spheres,  of 

broadest  scope; 
Do  3''e  know  how  old  age  rallies  when  it  hears  your 

bounding  tread? 
How,  in  youth's  endearing  presence,  all  things  else 

beloved  have  fled? 
Angels  even  see  I  bending  through  this  thick  and 

troubled  air, — 
But  for  you  so  fresh  from  God,  might  earth  and  heaven 

too  both  despair.  Idem,  Watching,  xxiv. 

Ah,  those  little  verst 
In  the  codes  that  are  current  turn  first  from  them  all 
To  the  herald  that  comes  to  trump  a  new  call. 


446  A  POET'S  CABINET 

Those  nearest  their  youth 
Live  nearest  the  breasts  that  glow  with  the  truth, 
And  welcome  it  gratefully  warm  from  the  heart. 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 

And  now  he  lived  for  weeks  in  that  bright  land 
Where  youth  appears  in  endless  dawn  to  dwell; 

Where  skies  of  pearl  o'er  golden  clouds  expand; 
And  every  breeze  o'erfiows  with  sweets  that  well 
From  warbling  birds,   and   burst    each   blossom's 
bell; 

Where  every  thorn  that  yet  shall  pave  one's  way 
Is  strung  with  dews  that  coming  joys  foretell; 

And  all  the  glitter  of  the  opening  day 

Still  blinds  the  eye  to  all  that  else  might  cause  dismay. 
A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  lv. 

And  fresh  little  thoughts  in  tones  that  tinkle, 
As  dance  the  dimples  that  round  them  wrinkle, 
More  dear  to  refresh  the  soul  with  delight 
Than  all  of  their  elders'  reason  and  right. 
For  the  healthful,  heartful  blush 

Of  youth's  fair  spring-time's  flower  and  fruit, 
Is  never  the  autumn's  hectic  flush 

Of  a  life  that  fades  and  dies  at  the  root. 

Love  and  Life,  xil. 

Alas,  how  oft  in  youth's  chill  morn 
Their  tears  alone  are  the  dews  that  adorn 

The  natures  that  wake 
To  the  light  of  a  day  beginning  to  break! 
And  oft  how  long,  ere  the  light  will  burst. 
The  mists  of  the  valley  surround  them  first ! 

Unveiling  the  Monument. 

Though  gray-beards  might  recall  a  former  time 
When  many  an  indiscretion  marr'd  his  youth, 
None  blamed  him  now  for  any  earlier  fault. 
In  all  completed  pictures  of  this  life, 
Dark  tints  but  give  the  bright  ones  rare  relief, 
Defects  in  youth,  because  they  are  defects. 
But  prove  more  merit  in  the  one  who  turns 
His  poor  resources  into  rich  results. 

A  Life  in  Song:  Note  vi. 


SELECTED  QUOTATIONS  447 

YOUTH,    FORMER    AND    MODERN 

Oh,  happy  days  of  youth!  when  empty  sport 

Of  mere  imagination — fancied  game — 

Could  fill  the  hunter's  pouch  to  overflowing! 

Ay,  how  much  better  than  the  days  of  age — 

Alas,  I  fear  it,  too,  of  modern  youth 

For  whom,  so  rich  in  matter,  poor  in  mind, 

We  manufacture  implements  of  play 

That  clip  at  fancies  till  they  all  fit  facts, 

Plane  joys  to  toys,  and  level  games  to  gain, 

Till  every  pleasure  palls  that  fails  to  pay 

In  scales  that  rate  life's  worth  by  what  it  weighs 

When  all  the  spirit's  buoyancy  is  lost. 

West  Mountain. 

ZEAL  {see  impetuous) 
Some  men  there  are,  whose  moods,  on  fire  for  truth. 

Burn  like  that  bush  that  Moses,  one  time,  saw, 
And  never  lose  the  fresh,  fair  charms  of  youth. 

Their  souls  from  heaven  itself  their  ardor  draw, 

Nor  burn  according  to  an  earthly  law. 
Their  zeal,  when  kindled,  kindles  joy  in  those 

Whom  worldly  heat  would  but  repel  or  awe; 
Nor  ever  warps  the  soul  that  near  them  goes. 
But  by  its  warmth  allures  to  love  that  through  it 
glows.  A  Life  in  Song:  Daring,  liii. 

And  while  he  longed  to  champion  this  fight 
His  life  appear'd  a  tourney,  he  a  knight. 

A  young  Don  Quixote,  most  on  guard  to  dare. 

He  harm'd  more  good,  through  zeal  in  need  of  light. 

Than  any  wrong  his  efforts  could  impair; 

And  fill'd  with  dust  the  way  just  where  all  needed  air. 

Idem,  LX. 

What  love  I  have,  inspires  me  in  my  soul ; 
And,  like  the  soul,  it  must  express  itself 
Through  every  fibre  binding  me  to  life; 
And  like  the  soul,  too,  I  believe  it  comes 
From  some  far  realm  divine  to  make  divine 
Myself,  my  world,  and  all  that  dwell  in  it. 
A  man  who  feels  like  this,  and  would  not  fight 
For  church  and  state  and  home,  would  be  a  devil. 

Dante,  i.,  i. 


448  A  POET'S  CABINET 

ZEAL  USING   FORCE 

When  unselfish  zeal 
Demands  investment  in  the  mail  of  force, 
He  that  of  old  had  spirit  to  inspire 
Swings  but  a  sword  that  cleaves  a  scar  for  greed. 

Columbus,  IV.,  I. 


THE  END 


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Ballads,  and  Other  Poems.     16mo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  top  $1.25 

"The  author  has  achieved  a  very  unusual  success,  a  success  to  which  genuine  poetic 
power  has  not  more  contributed  than  wide  reading  and  extensive  preparation.  The 
ballads  overflow,  not  only  with  the  general,  but  the  very  particular,  ^truths  of 
history." — Cincinnati  Times. 

"  A  work  of  true  genius,  brimful  of  imagination  and  sweet  humanity." — The  Fireside 
(London). 

"  Fine  and  strong,  its  thought  original  and  suggestive,  while  its  expression  is  the 
very  perfection  of  narrative  style." — The  N.  V.  Critic. 

■'Proves  beyond  doubt  that  Mr.  Raymond  is  the  possessor  of  a  poetic  faculty  which 
»s  worthy  of  the  most  careful  and  conscientious  cultivation." — N.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

"A  very  thoughtful  study  of  character.  .  .  great  knowledge  of  aims  and  motives 
...  Such  as  read  this  poem  will  derive  from  it  a  benefit  more  lasting  than  the 
mere  pleasure  of  the  moment." — The  Spectator  (London). 

The  Aztec  God,  and  Other  Dramas.  16mo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  top    $1.25 

"The  three  dramas  included  in  this  volume  represent  a  felicitous,  intense',  and 
melodious  expression  of  art  both  from  the  artistic  and  poetic  point  of  view.  .  . 
Mr.  Raymond's  power  is  above  all  that  of  psychologist,  and  added  thereto  are  the 
richest  products  of  the  imagination  both  in  form  and  spirit.  The  book  clearly 
discloses  the  work  of  a  man  possessed  of  an  extremely  fine  critical  poise,  of  a  culture 
pure  and  classical,  and  a  sensitive  conception  of  what  is  sweetest  and  most  ravishing 
in  tone-quality.  The  most  delicately  perceptive  ear  could  not  detect  a  flaw  in  the 
mellow  and  rich  music  of  the  blank  verse." — Public  Opinion. 

"As  fine  lines  as  are  to  be  found  anywhere  in  English.  .  .  .  Sublime  thought 
fairly  leaps  in  sublime  expression.  ...  As  remarkable  for  its  force  of  epigram 
as  for  its  loftiness  of  conception." — Cleveland  World. 

" .  .  .  Columbus  one  finds  a  piece  of  work  which  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  injuring 
with  fulsome  praise.  The  character  of  the  great  discoverer  is  portrayed  grandly  and 
greatly.  ...  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  anyone  who  cares  for  that  which  is 
best  in  literature  .  .  .  could  fail  to  be  strengthened  and  uplifted  by  this  heroic 
treatment  of  one  of  the  great  stories  of  the  world.  " — A''.  Y.  Press. 

Dante  and  Collected  Vet  se.    16mo,  cloth  extra,  gilt  top  $1.25 

"  Epigram,  philosophy,  history — these  are  the  predominant  elements  .  .  .  which 
masterly  construction,  pure  diction,  and  lofty  sentiment  unite  in  making  a  glowing 
piece  of  blank  verse." — Chicago  Herald. 

"The  poems  will  be  read  with  keenest  enjoyment  by  all  who  appreciate  literary 
genius,  refined  sentiment,  and  genuine  culture.  The  publication  is  a  gem  through- 
out."— New  Haven  Leader. 

"The  poet  and  the  reformer  contend  in  Professor  Raymond.  When  the  latter 
has  the  mastery,  we  respond  to  the  justice,  the  high  ideals,  the  truth  of  all  he  says — 
and  says  with  point  and  vigor — but  when  the  poet  conquers,  the  imagination  soars . 
.  .  .  The  mountain  poems  are  the  work  of  one  with  equally  high  ideals  of  life 
and  of  song." — Glasgow  (Scotland)  Herald. 

"Brother  Jonathan  can  not  claim  many  great  poets,  but  we  think  he  has  'struck 
oil,'  in  Professor  Raymond." — Western  (England)  Morning  News. 

"This  brilliant  composition  .  .  .  gathers  up  and  concentrates  for  the  reader 
more  of  the  reality  of  the  great  Italian  than  is  readily  gleaned  from  the  author  of  the 
Inferno  himself." — Oakland  Enquirer. 

G.  P.   FlITNAM'S   SONS,  New   York  and  London.  Pubiisiiers 


PROFESSOR  RAYi^lOND'S  WORKS 

Pictures  in  Verse.  With  20  illustrations  by  Maud  Stumm. 
Square  8vo,  in  ornamental  cloth  covers         .         $  .75 

"Little  jove  poems  of  a  light  and  airy  character,  describing  pretty  rustic  scenes. 
or  domestic  interiors.  ...  As  charming  for  its  illustrations  as  for  its  reading 
matter." — Detroit  Free  Press. 

"Simple  songs  of  human  every-day  experience  .  .  .  with  a  twinkle  of  homely 
humor  and  a  wholesome  reflection  of  domestic  cheer.  We  like  his  optimistic  senti- 
ments, and  unspoiled  spirit  of  boyishness  when  he  strikes  the  chord  of  love.  It  is 
all  very  true  and  good." — The  Independent. 

The  Mountains  about  Williamstown.  With  an  introduction 
by  M.  M.  Miller,  and  35  full-page  illustrations  from 
original  photographs;  oblong  cloth,  gilt  edges     $2.00 

"The  beauty  of  these  photographs  from  so  many  points  of  vantage  would  of  itself 
suffice  to  show  the  fidelity  and  affection  with  which  Professor  Raymond  pursued  the 
theme  of  his  admirably  constructed  poems.  The  introduction  by  his  pupil,  friend, 
and  associate  is  an  exhaustive  study.  No  better  or  more  thorough  review  could  be 
written  of  the  book,  or  more  clearly  t>oint  out  the  directness  and  power  of  Professor 
Raymond's  work.  .  .  .  Among  his  many  books  none  justifies  more  brilliantly 
the  correctness  and  charm  of  his  rhetorical  instruction,  or  his  facility  in  exemplifying 
what  he  commends. " — Hartford  (Conn.)  Courant. 

"The  poems  all  show  Dr.  Raymond's  perfect  art  of  expression,  his  deep  and  relig- 
ious love  of  nature,  and  his  profound  reverence  for  the  landscape  he  celebrates. 
Every  New  Englander  will  appreciate  the  volume,  and  Williams  College  men  can 
ill  afford  not  to  possess  it.  " — Portland  (Me.)  Evening  Express. 

"They  show  a  keen  ear  for  rhythm,  felicity  of  phrase,  exquisite  taste,  a  polished 
style,  and  often  exalted  feeling.  _Mr.  Raymond's  students  .  .  .  and  those_  who 
have  read  his  book  upon  the  principles  that  underlie  art,  poetry,  and  music  will  be 
interested  in  this  clothing,  in  concrete  form,  of  his  poetic  theories.  .  .  .  Dr. 
Miller  makes  in  his  Introduction  a  long  and  lucid  discussion  of  these." — New  York 
Times. 

"The  men  of  Williams  College  especially  owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  that  can 
never  be  paid." — Troy  (N.  Y.)  Record. 

"The  many  full-page  illustrations  give  lovely  vistas  of  the  Berkshires  and  of 
the  stream-silvered  valleys  they  guard.  Sometimes  philosophic,  sometimes  purely 
imaginative,  through  all  the  verse  runs  a  high  patriotism  and  a  love  of  beauty  and 
humanity  which  uplifts  and  strengthens." — Boston  Transcript. 

"Verse  that  often  suggests  Bryant  in  its  simplicity  and  dignity.  That  is  surely  a 
sound  model  for  nature  poetry.  Large  and  finely  produced  photographs  bring  the 
mountains  vividly  before  the  reader.  This  is  not  a  book  to  read  in  the  subway;  but 
lying  on  the  sunny  side  of  a  stony  wall  when  the  leaves  are  bursting  in  spring,  it 
will  surely  appeal." — Brooklyn  Eagle. 

Modern  Fishers  of  Men.     i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top     .      $1.00 

"  This  delightful  novel  is  written  with  charming  insight.  The  rare  gift  of 'character 
delineation  the  author  can  claim  in  full.  .  .  .  Shrewd  comments  upon  life  and 
character  add  spice  to  the  pages." — Nashville  Tennessean. 

"Deals  with  love  and  religion  in  a  small  country  town,  and  under  the  fac'ie  pen 
and  keen  humor  of  the  author,  the  various  situations  .  .  .  are  made  the  most  of 
.    .    .    true  to  the  life.  " — Boston  Globe. 

"Such  a  spicy,  racy,  more-truth-than-fiction  work  has  not  been  placed  in  our 
hands  for  a  long  time." — Chicago  Evening  Journal. 

"A  captivating  story,  far  too  short  .  .  .  just  as  fresh  and  absorbing  as  when  the 
lauthor  laid  down  his  pen   .    .    .   that  was  before  typewriters. " — Denver  Republican. 

"Essentially  humorous,  with  an  undercurrent  of  satire  ....  also  subtle  char- 
acter delineation,  which  will  appeal  strongly  to  those  who  have  the  perceptive  facul- 
ties highly  developed." — San  Francisco  Bulletin. 

"The  book  is  delightful  ....  in  several  ways  very  remarkable." — Boston 
Times. 

"A  distinct  surprise  lies  in  this  little  story  ....  of  1879  ....  so  strongly 
does  it  partake  of  the  outlook  and  aim  of  the  new  church  of  to-day." — Washington 
Star 

"In  'Modern  Fishers  of  Men,'  one  sees  that  the  Men  and  Religion  Forward 
Movement  existed  before  it  began." — The  Watchman,  Boston. 

"Pleasant  reading  for  those  whom  sad  experience  has  led  to  doubt  the  possibility 
of  a  real  community  uplift  with  lasting  qualities.  The  story  is  brightened  With  a 
Quiet  but  none  the  less  hearty  humor. " — Cincinnati  Times. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM  S   SONS.  New   York   and   London.  Publishers 


The  Poet's  Cabinet  and  An  Art-Philosopher's  Cabinet, 

two  books  containing  quotations,  the  one  from  the  poems, 
the  other  from  the  sesthetic  works  of  George  Lansing 
Raymond,  selected  and  arranged  alphabetically  accord- 
ing to  subject  by  Marion  Mills  Miller,  Litt.D.,  editor 
of  The  Classics,  Greek  and  Latin,  with  illustrations. 
Each  book  8vo.,  cloth  bound,  gilt  top     .      .      .     $2.00 

"Dr.  Raymond  is  one  of  the  most  just  and  pregnant  critics,  as  well  as  one  of  the 
most  genuine  poets,  that  America  has  produced.  .  .  .  His  verse  generally,  and  his 
prose  frequently,  is  a  solid  pack  of  epigrams;  and  hundreds  of  the  epigrams  are 
vigorous,  fresh,  telling,  worth  collecting  and  cataloguing.  .  .  .  Probably  from 
no  other  American  but  Emerson  could  a  collection  at  all  comparable  be  made. 
Many  of  the  phrases  are  profound  paradox.  .  .  .  Others  are  as  hard-headed  as 
La  Rochefoucauld.  .  .  .  Some  are  plain  common  sense,  set  in  an  audacious  figure, 
or  a  vigorous  turn  of  phrase.  .  .  .  But  few  or  none  of  them  are  trivial.  .  .  . 
As  an  EESthetic  critic,  Professor  Raymond  is,  by  training  and  temperament,  remark- 
ably versatile  and  catholic.  He  is  almost  or  quite  equally  interested  in  architecture, 
painting,  sculpture,  music,  poetry.  .  .  .  Each  is  as  definitely  placed  in  his  system 
as  the  several  instruments  in  a  great  orchestra.  .  .  .  If  Dr.  Raymond  had  been 
born  in  France,  England,  or  Germany,  he  would,  no  doubt,  have  enjoyed  a  wider 
vogue.  But  it  is  just  as  well  that  he  was  none  of  these;  for  the,  as  yet,  aesthetically 
immature  New  World  has  sore  need  of  him. — Revue  Internationale,  Paris. 

"We  risk  little  in  foretelling  a  day  when  all  considerable  libraries,  private  as  well 
as  public,  will  be  deemed  quite  incomplete  if  lacking  these  twin  volumes.  Years 
after  the  thinker  has  paid  the  debt  to  nature  due,  his  thoughts  will  rouse  action  and 
emotion  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  generations  now  unborn." — Worcester  (Mass.) 
Gazette. 

"  This  Poet's  Cabinet  is  the  best  thing  of  its  class — that  confined  to  the  works  of 
one  author — upon  which  our  eyes  have  fallen,  either  by  chance  or  purpose.  We 
can't  help  wishing  that  we  had  a  whole  book-shelf  of  such  volumes  in  our  own 
private  library." — Columbus  (O.)  Journal. 

"The  number  and  variety  of  the  subjects  are  almost  overwhelming,  and  the 
searcher  for  advanced  or  new  thought  as  expressed  by  this  particular  philosopher 
has  no  difficulty  in  coming  almost  immediately  upon  something  that  may  strike 
his  fancy  or  aid  him  in  his  perplexities.  To  the  student  of  poetry  and  the  higher 
forms  of  literature,  it  may  be  understood  that  the  volume  will  be  of  distinct  aid." — 
Utica  (N.  Y.)  Observer. 

"A  wide  range  of  topics,  under  appropriate  heads,  and  their  classification  in 
alphabetic  order,  thus  making  the  work  convenient  for  reference.  .  .  .  Editors, 
authors,  teachers,  public  speakers,  and  many  others  will  find  it  a  useful  volume, 
filled  with  quotable  passages  in  astonishing  numbers  when  it  is  remembered  that 
they  are  the  work  of  a  single  author." — Hartford  (Conn.)  Times. 

"  Dr.  Miller's  task  in  selecting  representative  extracts  from  Professor  Raymond's 
works  has  not  been  a  light  one,  for  there  has  been  no  chaff  among  the  wheat,  and 
there  was  an  ever  present  temptation  to  add  bulk  to  the  book  through  freedom  in 
compilation.  He  thought  best,  however,  to  eliminate  all  but  the  features  which 
revealed  the  rare  rich  soul  and  personality  of  the  poet,  and  each  quotation  is  a  gem." 
— Albany  (N.  Y.)  Times-Union. 

"  The  book  contains  a  careful  and  authoritative  selection  of  the  best  things  which 
this  brilliant  man  of  letters  has  given  to  the  literary  world.  ...  The  compiler 
has  done  fine  work.  .  .  .  One  cannot  turn  to  a  page  without  coming  across  some 
quotation  which  fits  in  for  the  day  with  the  happiest  result.  Dr.  Raymond's  satire 
is  keen  but  kindly,  his  sentiment  sweet  and  tender,  and  his  philosophy  convincing 
and  useful." — Buffalo  (N.  Y.)  Courier. 

"Everybody  who  knows  anything  about  literature  knows,  of  course,  that  Dr. 
Raymond  is  a  philosopher  as  well  as  poet  ...  no  mere  rhymester,  no  simple 
weaver  of  ear-tickling  phrases  and  of  well-measured  verse  and  stanza.  There  is 
pith  as  well  as  music  in  his  song  ...  all  breathing  power  as  well  as  grace." — 
Brooklyn  (N.  Y.)  Citizen. 

"To  study  the  works  of  any  one  man  so  that  we  are  completely  familiar  with  his 
ideas  upon  all  important  subjects — if  the  man  have  within  him  any  element  of  great- 
ness— is  a  task  which  is  likely  to  repay  the  student's  work.  .  .  .  This  fact  makes 
the  unique  quality  of  the  present  volume  .  .  .  quotations  which  deal  with  practi- 
cally every  subject  to  be  found  in  more  general  anthologies." — Boston  (Mass.) 
A  dvertisfr. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS.  New  York  and   London.  Publishers 


ProfessorRaymond'sSystemofCOMPfiRATIVEiESTHETICS 

I. — Art  in  Theory,     8vo,  cloth  extra $i-75 

"  Scores  an  advance  upon  the  many  art  criticisms  extant ....  Twenty  brilliant 
chapters,  pregnant  with  suggestion.  " — Popular  Science  Monthly. 

"A  well  grounded,  thoroughly  supported,  and  entirely_  artistic  conception  of  art 
that  will  lead  observers  to  distrust  the  charlatanism  that  imposes  an  idle  and  super- 
ficial mannerism  upon  the  public  in  place  of  true  beauty  and  honest  workmanship. " 
— Tke  New  York  Times. 

"His  style  is  good,  and  his  logic  sound  and  .  .  .  of  the  greatest  possible  service 
to  the  student  of  artistic  theories.  " — Art  Journal  (London). 

II.— The  Representative  Significance  of  Form.  8vo,  cloth  extra  I2.00 

"A  valuable  essay.  .  .  .  Professor  Raymond  goes  so  deep  into  causes  as  to 
explore  the  subconscious  and  the  unconscious  mind  for  a  solution  of  his  problems, 
and  eloquently  to  range  through  the  conceptions  of  religion,  science  and  metaphysics 
in  order  to  find  fixed  principles  of  taste.  ...  A  highly  interesting  discussion. " — 
The  Scotsman  (Edinburgh). 

"  Evidently  the  ripe  fruit  of  years  of  patient  and  exhaustive  study  on  the  part  of  a 
man  singularly  fitted  for  his  task.  It  is  profound  in  insight,  searching  in  analysis, 
broad  inspirit,  and  thoroughly  modern  in  method  and  sympathy." — The  Universalist 
Leader. 

"Its  title  gives  no  intimation  to  the  general  reader  of  its  attractiveness  for  him,  or 
to  curious  readers  of  its  widely  discursive  range  of  interest.  .  .  .  Its  broad  range 
may  remind  one  of  those  scythe-bearing  chariots  with  which  the  ancient  Persians 
used  to  mow  down  hostile  files." — The  Outlook. 

III. — Poetry  as  a  Representative  Art.    8 vo,  cloth  extra  ^    $i-75 

"I  have  read  it  with  pleasure,  and  a  sense  of  instruction  on  many  points." — 
Francis  Turner  Palgrave,  Professor  of  Poetry,  Oxford  University. 

"Dieses  ganz  vortrefifliche  Werk." —  Englischen  Studien,  Universitat  Breslau. 

"An  acute,  interesting,  and  brilliant  piece  of  work.  ...  As  a  whole  the  essay 
deserves  unqualified  praise." — N.  Y.  Independent. 

IV, — Painting,  Sculpture,  and  Architecture  as  Representative  Arts. 
With  225  illustrations.     8vo ,^2.50 

"The  artist  will  find  in  it  a  wealth  of  profound  and  varied  learning;  of  original, 
suggestive,  helpful  thought   .    .    .  of  absolutely  inestimable  value.  " — The  Looker-on. 

"Expression  by  means  of  extension  or  size,  .  .  .  shape,  .  .  .  regularity  in 
outlines  .  .  .  the  human  body  .  .  .  posture,  gesture,  and  movement,  .  .  .  are 
all  considered.  ...  A  specially  interesting  chapter  is  the  one  on  color." — 
Current  Literature. 

"The  whole  book  is  the  work  of  a  man  of  exceptional  thoughtfulness,  who  says 
■what  he  has  to  say  in  a  remarkably  lucid  and  direct  manner. " — Philadelphia  J'ress. 

v.— The  Genesis  of  Art  Form.    Fully  illustrated.     8vo  .        .     I2.25 

"In  a  spirit  at  once  scientific  and  that  of  the  true  artist,  he  pierces  through  the 
manifestations  of  art  to  their  sources,  and  shows  the  relations  intimate  and  essential, 
between  painting,  sculpture,  poetry,  music,  and  architecture.  A  book  that  possesses 
not  only  singular  value,  but  singular  charm." — A^.  Y.  Times. 

"A  help  and  a  delight.  Every  aspirant  for  culture  in  any  of  the  liberal  arts,  includ- 
ing music  and  poetry,  will  find  something  in  this  book  to  aid  him." — Boston  Times. 

"It  is  impossible  to  withhold  one's  admiration  from  a  treatise  which  exhibits  in 
such  a  large  degree  the  qualities  of  philosophic  criticism." — Philadelphia  Press. 

VI. — Rhythm  and  Harmony  in  Poetry  and  Music.  Together  with 
Music  as  a  Representative  Art.    8vo,  cloth  extra     .     $i-75 

"Professor  Raymond  has  chosen  a  delightful  subject,  and  he  treats  it  with  all  the 
charm  of  narrative  and  high  thought  and  profound  study." — New  Orleans  Slates. 

"The  reader  must  be,  indeed,  a  person  either  of  supernatural  stupidity  or  of 
marvelous  erudition,  who  does  not  discover  much  information  in  Prof.  Raymond's 
exhaustive  and  instructive  treatise.  From  page  to  page  it  is  full  of  suggestion." — 
The  Academy  (London). 

VII.— Proportion  and  Harmony  of  Line  and  Color  in  Painting, 
Sculpture,  and  Architecture.    Fully  illustrated.    8vo.    $2.50 

"  Marked  by  profound  thought  along  lines  unfamiliar  to  most  readers  and  thinkers. 
.  .  .  When  grasped,  however,  it  becomes  a  source  of  great  enjoyment  and  exhil- 
aration. .  .  .  No  critical  person  can  afford  to  ignore  so  raluable  a  contribution  to 
the  art-thought  of  the  day. " — The  Art  Interchange  (N.  Y.). 

"One  does  not  need  to  be  a  scholar  to  follow  this  scholar  as  he  teaches  while 
seeming  to  entertain,  for  he  does  both. " — Burlington  Hawkeye. 

"The  artistvi'ho  wishes  to  penetrate  the  mysteries  of  color,  the  sculptor  who  desires 
to  cultivate  his  sense  of  proportion,  or  the  architect  whose  ambition  is  to  reach  to  a 
high  standard  will  find  the  work  helpful  and  inspiring." — Boston  Transcript. 

G,  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS.  New   York  and   London.  Publisheis 


TEXT-BOOKS  BY  PROFESSOR  RAYMOND 

The  Essentials  of  ^Esthetics.    8vo.    Illustrated.  $2.50 

This  work,  which  is  mainly  a  compendium  of  the  author's  system  of  Comparative 
Esthetics,  previously  published  in  seven  volumes,  was  prepared  by  request,  for  a 
text-book  and  for  readers  whose  time  is  too  limited  to  study  the  minutias  of  the 
subject. 

"It  can  hardly  fail  to  make  talent  more  rational,  genius  more  conscious  of  the 
principles  of  art,  and  the  critic  and  connoisseur  better  equipped  for  impression, 
judgment,  or  appraisement." — N.Y.  Times. 

"In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  written  on  the  subject  from  widely  contrasted 
standpoints,  this  manual  has  distinct  claims  on  students. " — The  Standard  (London). 

"His  evidence  is  clear  and  straightforward,  and  his  conclusions  eminently  scholarly 
and  sound. " — Vanity  Fair  (honAon.) 

"In  his  scientific  excursion,  he  makes  hard  things  easy  to  the  lay  mind.  The 
serious  student  of  art  cannot  fail  to  find  the  book  interesting,  and  in  certain  import- 
ant matters  convincing." — Manchester  (England)  Guardian. 

"This  book  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  an  important  subject  which  may  help 
us  to  understand  more  fully  notonly  that  a  picture,  or  a  poem,  or  a  musical  com- 
position is  good,  but  also  why  it  is  good,  and  what  constitutes  its  excellence. " — The 
Christian  Register  (Boston). 

"So  lucid  in  expression  and  rich  in  illustration  that  every  page  contains  matter  of 
deep  interest  even  to  the  general  reader. " — Boston  Herald. 

"Dr.  Raymond's  book  will  be  invaluable.  He  shows  a  knowledge  both  extensive 
and  exact  of  the  various  fine  arts,  and  accompanies  his  ingenious  and  suggestive 
theories  by  copious  illustrations." — The  Scotsman  (Edinburgh). 

"The  whole  philosophy^  underlying  this  intelligent  art-criticism  should  be  given 
the  widest  possible  publicity." — Boston  Globe. 

The  Orator*s  Manual.     i2mo       ....         $1.50 

A  Practical  and  Philosophic  Treatise  on  Vocal  Culture,  Emphasis,  and  Gesture, 
together  with  Hints  for  the  Composition  of  Orations  and  Selections  for  Declamation 
and  Reading,  designed  as  a  Text-book  for  Schools  and  Colleges,  and  for  Public 
Speakers  and  Readers^  who  are  obliged  to  Study  without  an  Instructor,  fully  revised 
with  important  Additions  after  the  Fifteen  Edition. 

"It  is  undoubtedly  the  most  complete  and  thorough  treatise  on  oratory  for  the 
practical  student  ever  published." — The  Educational  Weekly,  Chicago. 

"  I  consider  it  the  best  American  book  upon  technical  elocution.  It  has  also 
leanings  toward  a  philosophy  of  expression  that  no  other  book  written  by  an  Ameri- 
can has  presented." — Moses  True  Brown,  Head  of  the  Boston  School  of  Oratory. 

"The  work  is  evidently  thatof  a  skilful  teacher  bringing  before  students  of  oratory 
the  results  of  philosophical  thinking  and  successful  experience  in  an  admirable  form 
and  a  narrow  compass." — J,  W.  Churchill,  Professor  of  Homiletics,  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary. 

"I  have  long  wished  for  just  such  a  book.  It  is  thoroughly  practical,  and  descends 
into  details,  really  helping  the  speaker." — J.  M.  Hoppin,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Hom- 
iletics, Yale. 

"The  completeness,  exactness,  and  simplicity  of  this  manual  excite  my  admira- 
tion. It  is  so  just  and  full  of  nature." — A.  T.  McGill,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Homiletics,  Princeton. 

The  Writer  (with  Post  Wheeler,  Litt.D.)     i2mo.      $1.00 

A  Concise,  Complete,  and  Practical  Text-book  of  Rhetoric,  designed  to  aid  in  the 
Appreciation,  as  well  as  Production  of  All  Forms  of  Literature,  Explaining,  for  the 
first  time,  the  Principles  of  Written  Discourses  by  correlating  them  to  those  of  Oral 
Discourse.     Former  editions  fully  revised. 

"A  book  of  unusual  merit.  A  careful  examination  creates  the  impression  that  the 
exercises  have  been  prepared  by  practical  teachers,  and  the  end  in  view  is  evidently 
to  teach  rather  than  to  give  information. " — The  Pacific  Educational  Journal. 

"  The  pupil  will  forget  he  is  studying  rhetoric,  and  will  come  to  express  himself  for 
the  pure  pleasure  he  has  in  this  most  beautiful  art." — Indiana  School  Journal. 

"It  reaches  its  purpose.  While  especially  valuable  as  a  text-book  in  schools,  it  is 
a  volume  that  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  literary  worker." — Slate  Gazette, 
Trenton,  N.  J. 

"The  treatment  is  broader  and  more  philosophical  than  in  the  ordinary  text-book. 
Every  species  of  construction  and  figure  is  considered.  The  student  has  his  critical 
and  literary  sense  further  developed  by  .  .  .  the  best  writings  in  the  language  used 
to  illustrate  certain  qualities  of  style." — The  School  Journal. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S    SONS,  New   York  and  London.  Publishers 


TEXT-BOOKS  BY  PROFESSOR  RAYMOND 

Ethics  and  Natural  Law.     8vo.      .         .         .     Net,  $2. 25 

A  Reconstructive  Review  of  Moral  Philosophy,  Applied  to  the  Rational  Art  of 
Living, — a  Book  that  is  in  efifect  a  Continuation  and  Completion  of  the  Author's 
well-known  Esthetic  Works,  showing  the  Relationship  of  the  Principles  underlying 
Art  to  the  Culture  of  Character. 

The  lines  of  thought  presented  in  this  voltune  differ,  in  important  regards,  from 
those  unfolded  in  former  theories  of  Ethics.  It  is  here  maintained  that  morality  is 
conditioned  upon  desires; — that  desires  may  arise  in  the  mind  or  in  the  body;  and, 
in  both  cases,  are  expressed  through  a  man's  thinking  as  well  as  acting; — that  desires 
of  the  niind,  according  to  the  testimony  of  both  metaphysics  and  science,  seek 
objects  seen  or  heard,  the  mental  effects  of  which  can  be  unselfishly  shared  with 
others;  whereas  desires  of  the  body,  as  of  touch  and  taste,  seek  selfish  and  exclusive 
possession  of  that  which  ministers  to  individual  indulgence — that  conscience  is  a 
consciousness  of  conflict  between  these  two  classes  of  desires;  and  that  this  con- 
sciousness can  best  be  made  to  cease  by  producing  an  experience  of  harmony  through 
subordinating  rather  than  suppressing  desires  of  the  body  whose  life  they  serve. 
A  little  thinking  will  discover  moreover,  that  this  conception  of  conscience  accords 
with  the  nature  of  a  mind  that  is  influenced  by  suggestion  and  reason  more  power- 
fully than  by  dictation  and  compulsion; — as  well,  too,  as  with  the  requirements  of 
all  phases  of  spiritual  religion,  because  this  theory  shows  how  body  and  mind  may 
be  separated  after  death,  and  the  latter  alone  survive,  and  yet  how,  even  in  these 
conditions,  a  mind  that  has  not  learned,  in  this  life,  to  subordinate  the  physical  and 
material  may  still  carry  with  it  the  bias  of  their  influence.  The  volume  endeavors 
to  make  clear,  too,  that  the  history  of  ethical  theories  records  no  denial  of  the  exist- 
ence of  this  conflict  in  consciousness; — and  that  a  recognition  of  the  full  import  of 
this  fact  would  remove  the  differences  between  them,  and  furnish  a  single  philo- 
sophic principle  fundamental  to  them  all; — also  that  few,  if  any,  immoral  acts  in 
private  or  public  life  could  fail  to  be  detected,  prevented,  or  corrected  by  an  appli- 
cation to  practice  of  the  tests  that  accord  with  this  theory. 

"The  student  of  ethics  will  considerably  fortify  his  knowledge  of  the  history  of 
ethical  thought  by  reading  the  book,  especially  the  first  twelve  chapters.  In  these 
Mr.  Raymond  embodies,  with  copious  references,  his  extensive  knowledge  of  what 
has  been  written  and  thought  by  moral  philosophers.  On  pp.  63-67,  for  instance, 
will  be  found  in  footnotes  a  kind  of  classified  anthology  of  all  the  definitions  given 
of  conscience  by  modern  writers.  The  various  ethical  theories  holding  the  field  do 
not,  he  thinks,  recognize  as  indispensable  the  cooperation,  in  every  slightest  detail 
of  thought  and  feeling,  of  the  two  necessary  factors  of  every  desire;  and  he  claims 
that  his  own  doctrine  keeps  to  the  purpose  he  avows  in  his  opening  chapter, — to 
draw  no  inference,  and  to  advance  no  theory,  not  warranted  by  known  facts  as 
ascertainable  in  connection  with  the  operations  of  natural  law.  .  .  .  Chapters 
XIII  to  XXIII  deal  acutely  and  comprehensively  with  the  various  sides  of  American 
life." — London  (England)  Times. 

In  an  article  entitled  A  Desirable  Acquaintance,  Prof.  A.  S.  Hobart,  D.D.,  of  Crozer 
Theological  Seminary,  after  mentioning  his  twenty  years'  experience  in  teaching 
Ethics,  says,  "I  find  this  book  the  only  one  that  has  come  within  tke  range  of  my 
reading  which  has,  for  the  basis  of  its  system,  what  I  have  found  to  be  satisfactory. 
The  writer  assumes  that  there  is,  in  the  nature  of  things,  a  law  of  ethical  conduct 
as  continuous  and  self -evincing  as  is  the  law  of  physical  health.  .  .  .  The  study 
of  psychology  has  opened  the  mind  to  inspection  as  we  open  the  back  of  a  watch- 
case  and  see  the  wheels  go  round;  and  this  study  lays  its  crowns  of  victorious  ex- 
plorations at  the  feet  ef  ethics.  .  .  .  His  view  is  that  conscience  is  the  sense  of 
conflict  between  bodily  and  mental  desires,  .  .  .  therefore,  not  a  guide;  it  is 
only  a  sense  of  lostness  in  the  woods,  that  wants  a  guide.  Good  sense  and  good 
religion  are  the  guides  to  be  consulted.  By  many  illustrations  and  very  clear 
reasoning,  he  verifies  his  view.  Then,  ...  he  takes  up  the  task — unusual  in 
such  books — of  showing  how  the  leading  moral  qualities  can  and  ought  to  be  cul- 
tivated. In  view  of  my  own  careful  reading  of  the  book,  I  venture  to  call  attention 
to  it  as  a  most  fertile  source  of  instruction  and  suggestion  for  ethical  teaching." — 
The  Baptist. 

"  Professor  Raymond  attacks  materialism  and  militarism.  .  .  .  He  shows  that 
the  materialist  makes  morality  depend  on  what  is  external  to  man,  and  that  the 
militarist  relies  on  physical  force  for  the  promotion  of  morality.  .  .  .  There  is 
much  in  this  book  to  commend,  especially  its  sincerity.  .  .  .  The  author  is  some- 
times too  advanced  ...  he  is,  in  fact,  a  moral  revolutionist.  But  he  always  tries 
to  determine  not  what  is  pleasant  but  what  is  just." — Rochester  (N.Y.)  Post-Express. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS.  New  York   and  London.  Publishers 


TEXT-BOOKS  BY  PROFESSOR  RAYMOND 

"The  book  Ethics  and  Natural  Law  is  an  interesting  statement  of  the  author's 
theory  that  the  ethical  life  is  a  harmonious  life  in  which  the  antagonisms  between 
mind  and  body  are  reconciled  by  the  dominance  of  mind.  The  consciousness  of 
conflict  between  body  and  mind  accounts  for  what  we  call  conscience  which  tells 
that  the  conflict  should  be  ended.  It  is  ended  when  the  desires  of  the  body  in  the 
whole  realm  of  human  relationships  are  subordinated  to  the  desires  of  the  mind. 
The  analogy  between  the  aesthetic  and  moral  harmonies  is  excellently  developed, 
and  one  is  reminded  of  the  Platonic  principle  of  the  harmonious  subordination  of 
the  lower  to  the  higher.  In  the  statement  of  the  various  ethical  theories  which  the 
author  reviews  he  is  clear  and  satisfactory.  The  classification  of  his  material  is 
consistent  throughout.  His  emphasis  on  the  necessity  of  the  subordination,  and 
not  the  destruction  of  the  desires  of  the  body,  is  of  notable  importance.  His  doc- 
trine calls  for  the  spiritual  utiliz  ation  of  the  natural  powers  and  makes  mind  supreme 
in  the  individual,  the  social,  and  the  governmental  life  of  mankind." — John  A. 
Mcintosh,  D.D.,  Professor  of  the  Philosophy  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  McCormick 
(Presbyterian)  Theological  Seminary. 

"A  working  theory  of  ethics  that  has  much  to  recommend  it.  Experts  in  this 
field  of  inquiry  have  long  taken  for  granted  the  conflict  between  the  larger  ends  of 
society  and  the  narrower  ends  pursued  by  the  individual.  The  author  emphasizes 
the  deeper  clash  within  the  individual  between  the  desires  of  the  body  and  those  of 
the  mind,  noting  that  while  both  are  natural,  the  lower  impulses  should  always  be 
held  in  subordination  to  the  higher.  He  would  have  the  mind's  desires  kept  upper- 
most in  all  the  phases  of  individual  and  collective  life, — in  courtship,  marriage, 
family  training,  the  general  relations  between  employers  and  employees,  forms  of 
government,  and  the  framing  and  administering  of  laws.  .  .  .  Permanently 
beneficial  results  in  labor  disputes  can  be  reached  not  through  resort  to  force  but 
only  through  appeals  to  the  mind  .  .  .  and  he  is  a  severe  critic  of  executives  who 
further  the  interests  of  their  party  at  the  expense  of  the  country's  interests.  The 
work  contains  an  excellent  summary  of  ancient  and  modern  ethical  theories.'! — 
Boston  Herald. 

"When  once  you  make  desire  dynamic,  you  have  a  spiritual  actuating  principle. 
This  is  the  basis  upon  which  you  have  reared  a  stately  ethical  edifice.  Its  founda- 
tion rests  on  man,  on  human  rationality;  and  story  rises  above  story  of  ever  higher 
personal,  social,  and  political  relations,  with  the  light  of  the  universe  of  God  stream- 
ing through  the  windows.  The  absence  of  the  terminology  of  theology  is  more  than 
compensated  by  the  high  quality  of  the  religious  ferver  and  spiritual  insight.  I 
commend  this  book  very  strongly, — its  scholarly  ripeness,  its  intellectual  honesty, 
and  its  ethical  purpose." — Dr.  Abrant  Simon,  Rabbi  of  "The  Hebrew  Congrega- 
tion," and  President  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

"A  valuable  contribution  to  Ethical  theory.  While  his  system  has  something  in 
common  with  intuitionism,  utilitarianism,  and  ethical  evolutionism,  he  is  not  a 
disciple  of  any  of  them.  .  .  .  The  main  thesis  of  the  book  is  that  there  are  two 
classes  of  desires, — those  of  the  body  and  those  of  the  mind;  and  that  there  is  con- 
tinual strugglefor  the  mastery  between  them.  .  .  .  This  thesis  is  supported  by 
numerous  citations  from  writers  on  ethics  which  show  the  author's  wide  and  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  the  subject.  The  style  of  the  treatise  is  a  model 
of  clearness;  it  is  dignified  but  never  dull  or  dry,  and  it  is  occasionally  illumined  by 
flashes  of  humor.  The  work  is  a  practical  guide  to  right  living,  as  the  author  applies 
his  theory  to  every  department  of  human  life,  individual  social,  national,  and  sheds 
the  light  of  his  wisdom  on  e\ery  question  of  human  conduct.  Students  of  ethics 
cannot  afford  to  neglect  this  book.  It  ought  to  be  in  the  libraries  of  parents  of  sons 
and  daughters  approaching  manhood  and  womanhood." — The  Chronicle  (Prot. 
Epis.)  Monthly. 

"Professor  Raymond  extracts  a  fundamental  principle  that  largely  reconciles 
existing  ethical  theories  .  .  .  makes  distinctions  that  have  vitality,  and  will  repay 
the  necessary  study  and  appUcation." — Scientific  American. 

"In  the  course  of  his  argument  the  author  discusses  at  considerable  length  the 
various  factors  and  agencies  that  contribute  to  the  making  and  unmaking  of  the 
lives  of  men  and  women  in  so  far  as  their  usefulness  to  their  fellow  creatures  is 
concerned.  In  his  treatment  of  these  subjects  he  is  at  all  times  candid  and  fair- 
minded,  in  most  cases  reviewing  both  sides  of  the  question  at  issue." — Chronicle 
Telegraph  (Pittsburg,  Pa.). 

"The  author  writes  with  a  jjurpose  that  seeks  to  be  exhaustive,  and  to  cover 
much  of  the  field  of  practical  living.  He  is  analytic  and  comprehensive,  and,  above 
all,  scholarly.  He  has  made  a  contribution  in  this  field  of  research  that  will  be 
received  with  enthusiasm,  and  readily  turned  into  the  realm  of  productive  thought." 
— Western  (Methodist)  Christian  Advocate,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS,  New  York  and   London,  Publishers 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY  PROFESSOR  RAYMOND 

Fundamentals  in  Education,  Art,  and  Civics :  Essays  and 

Addresses.     8vo,  cloth.     Net,  $1.40;  by  mail,  $1.53. 

*'  Of  fascinating  interest  to  cultured  readers,  to  the  student,  the  teacher,  the  poet, 
the  artist,  the  musician,  in  a  word  to  all  lovers  of  sweetness  and  light.  _  The  author  has 
a  lucid  and  vigorous  style,  and  is  often  strikingly  original.  What  impresses  one  is 
the  personality  of  a  profound  thinker  and  a  consummate  teacher  behind  every 
paragraph. '_' — Dundee  Courier,  Scotland. 

"  The  articles  cover  a  wide  field  and  manifest  a  uniformly  high  culture  in  every 
field  covered.  It  is  striking  how  this  great  educator  seems  to  have  anticipated  the 
educational  tendencies  of  our  times  some  decades  before  they  imprest  the  rest  of  us. 
He  has  been  a  pathfinder  for  many  younger  men,  and  still  points  the  way  to  higher 
heights.     The  book  is  thoroughly  up-to-date." — Service,  Philadelphia. 

"  Clear,  informing,  and  delightfully  readable.  Whether  the  subject  is  art  and 
morals,  technique  in  expression,  or  character  in  a  republic,  each  page  will  be  found 
interesting  and  the  treatment  scholarly,  but  simple,  sane,  and  satisfactory  .  .  .  tU 
story  ofthe  Chicago  fire  is  impressingly  vivid. " — Chicago  Standard. 

"He  is  a  philosopher,  whose  encouraging  idealism  is  well  grounded  in  scientifie 
study,  and  who  illuminates  points  of  psychology  and  ethics  as  well  as  of  art  when 
they  come  up  in  the  course  of  the  discussion. " — The  Scotsman,  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 

"A  scholar  of  wide  learning,  a  teacher  of  experience,  and  a  writer  of  entertaining 
and  convincing  style." — Chicago  Examiner. 

'"The  Mayflower  Pilgrims'  and  'Individual  Character  in  Our  Republic'  call  for 
unstinted  praise.  They  are  interpenetrated  by  a  splendid  patriotism." — Rochester 
Post-Express. 

"Agreeably  popularizes  much  that  is  fundamental  in  theories  of  life  and  thought. 
The  American  people  owe  much  of  their  progress,  their  optimism,  and  we  may  say 
their  happiness  to  the  absorption  of  just  such  ideals  as  Professor  Raymond  stands 
for." — Minneapolis  Book  Review  Digest. 

"They  deal  with  subjects  of  perennial  interest,  and  with  principles  of  abiding 
importance,  and  they  are  presented  with  the  force  and  lucidity  which  his  readers 
have  come  to  look  for  in  Dr.  Raymond." — Ltvitig  Age,  Boston. 

Suggestions  for  the  Spiritual  Life — College  Chapel  Talks. 

8vo,,  cloth.     Net,  $1.40;  by  mail,  $1.53. 

"Sermons  of  more  than  usual  worth,  full  of  thought  of  the  right  kind,  fresh, 
strong,  direct,  manly.  .  .  .  Not  one  seems  to  strain  to  get  a  young  man's  atten- 
tion by  mere  popular  allusions  to  a  student  environment.  They  are  spiritual, 
scriptural,  of  straight  ethical  import,  meeting  difficulties,  confirming  cravings, 
amplifying  tangled  processes  of  reasoning,  and  not  forgetting  the  emotions. " — Hart- 
ford Theological  Sejninary  Record  (Congregationalist). 

"The  clergyman  who  desires  to  reach  young  men  especially,  and  the  teacher  of 
men's  Bible  Classes  may  use  this  collection  of  addresses  to  great  advantage.  .  .  . 
The  subjects  are  those  of  every  man's  experience  in  character  building  .  .  .  such  a 
widespread  handling  of  God's  word  would  have  splendid  results  in  the  production 
of  men." — The  Living  Church  (Episcopalian). 

"Great  themes,  adequately  considered.  .  .  .  Surely  the  young  men  who 
listened  to  these  sermons  must  have  been  stirred  and  helped  by  them  as  we  have 
been  stirred  and  helped  as  we  read  them. " — Northfield  (Mass.)  Record  of  Christian 
Work  (Evangelical). 

"They  cover  a  wide  range.  _  They  are  thoughtful,  original,  literary,  concise, 
condensed,  pithy.  They  deal  with  subjects  in  which  the  young  mind  will  be  inter- 
ested."—  Western  Christian  Advocate  (Methodist). 

"Vigorous  thought,  vigorously  expressed.  One  is  impressed  by  the  moderation 
and  sanity  of  the  teachings  here  set  forth  and  scholarly  self-restraint  in  statement. 
Back  of  them  is  not  only  a  believing  mind,  but  genuine  learning  and  much  hard 
thinking." — Lutheran  Observer. 

"  Though  most  of  the  addresses  were  prepared  over  forty  years  ago  ...  no 
chapter  in  the  book  seems  to  be  either  'old-fogyish'  or  'unorthodox.'  " — The  Watch- 
man (Boston,  Baptist). 

"The  preacher  will  find  excellent  models  for  his  work  and  stimulating  thought  .  .  . 
attractively  presented  and  illustrated.  .  .  .  The  addresses  are  scholarly  and 
especially  adapted  to  cultivated  minds.  They  show  evidence  of  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  modern  science  and  sympathy  with  modern  ideas." — Springfield  (Mass.) 
Republican. 

"Beautiful  and  inspiring  discourses  .  .  .  embody  the  ripe  conviction  of  a  mind 
of  exceptional  refinement,  scholarship,  and  power  ...  a  psychologist,  a  phil- 
osopher, and  a  poet. " — N.  Y.  Literary  Digest. 

"  Never  was  such  a  book  more  needed  by  young  men  than  just  now."^Philadel- 
phia  Public  Ledger. 

FUNfi  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY,  Pubs.  New  York  and  Londoa. 


The  Psychology  of  Inspiration.     8 vo.,  cloth.    (New  Revised 
Edition).     Net,  $2.00;  by  mail,  $2.14. 

The  book  founds  its  conclusions  on  a  study  of  the  action  of  the  human  mind  when 
obtaining  and  expressing  truth,  as  this  action  has  been  revealed  through  the  most 
recent  investigations  of  pi:ysiologicaI,  psychological,  and  psychic  research;  and  the 
t'reshne.-:;  r.nd  originality  of  the  presentation  is  acknowledged  and  commended  by 
such  authorities  as  Dr.  J.  Mark  Baldwin,  Professor  of  Psychology  in  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  who  says  that  its  psychological  position  is  "new  and  valuable";  Dr. 
W.  T.  Harris,  late  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  and  the  foremost 
metaphysician  in  the  country,  who  says  it  is  sure  "to  prove  helpful  to  many  who 
firn.  themselves  on  the  border  line  between  the  Christian  and  the  non-Christian 
beliefs";  and  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  who  says  that  "no  one  has  approached  the 
subject  from  this  point  of  view."  He  characterizes  it,  too,  as  an  "endeavor  to 
formulate  conceptions  that  almost  every  Christian  to-day  believes,  but  without  know- 
ing why  he  does  so. "_  As  thus  intimated  by  Dr.  Hale,  the  book  is  not  a  mere  con- 
tribution to  apologetics — not  a  mere  defense  of  Christianity.  It  contains  a  formula- 
tion of  principles  that  underlie  all  rational  interpretation  of  all  forrns  of  revealed 
religion.  These  principles  are  applied  in  the  book  to  Christian  doctrine,  faith,  and 
conduct;  to  the  services,  discipline,  and  unity  of  the  church;  and  to  the  methods  of 
insuring  successin  missionary  enterprise.  It  strives  to  reveal  both  the  truth  and  the 
error  that  are  in  such  systems  of  thought  as  are  developed  in  AGNOSTICISM, 
PRAGMATISM,  MODERNISM.  THEOSOPHY,  SPIRITUALISM.  AND  CHRIS- 
TIAN SCIENCE. 

The  first  and,  perhaps,  the  most  important  achievement  of  the  book  is  to  show 
that  the  fact  of  inspiration  can  be  demonstrated  scientifically:  in  other  words,  that 
the  inner  subconscious  mind  can  be  influenced  irrespective  of  influences  exerted 
through  the  eyes  and  the  ears,  »'.  e.,  by  what  one  sees  or  hears.  In  connection  with 
this  fact  it  is  also  shown  that,  when  the  mind  is  thus  inwardly  or  inspirationally 
influenced,  as,  for  example,  in  hypnotism,  the  influence  is  suggestive  and  not  dicta- 
torial. As  a  result,  the  inspired  person  presents  the  truth  given  him  not  according 
to  the  letter,  but  according  to  the  spirit.  His  object  is  not  to  deal  with  facts  and  impart 
knowledge,  as  science  does.  This  would  lead  men  to  walk  by  sight.  His  object  is 
to  deal  with  principles,  and  these  may  frequently  be  illustrated  just  as  accurately  by 
apparent,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  the  parable,  by  imagined  circumstances,  as  by  actual 
ones.  For  this  reason,  many  of  the  scientific  and  historical  so-called  "objections" 
to  the  Bible  need  not  be  answered  categorically.  Not  only  so,  but  such  faith  as  it  is 
natural  and  right  that  a  rational  being  should  exercise  can  be  stimulated  and  devel- 
oped in  only  the  degree  in  which  the_  text  of  a  sacred  book  is  characterized  by  the 
very  vagueness  and  variety  of  meaning  and  statement  which  the  higher  criticism 
of  the  Bible  has  brought  to  light.  The  book  traces  these  to  the  operation  and  re- 
guirements  of  the  human  mind  through  which  inspiration  is  received  and  to  which 
it  is  imparted.  Whatever  inspires  must  appear  to  be,  in  some  way,  beyond  the  grasp 
of  him  who  communicates  it,  and  can  make  him  who  hears  it  think  and  train  him  to 
think,  in  the  degree  only  in  which  it  is  not  comprehensive  or  complete;  but  merely, 
like  everything  else  in  nature,  illustrative  of  that  portion  of  truth  which  the  mind 
needs  to  be  made  to  find  out  for  itself. 


"  A  book  that  everybody  should  read  .  .  .  medicinal  for  profest  Christians,  and 
full  of  guidance  and  encouragement  for  those  finding  themselves  somewhere  between 
the  desert  and  the  town.  The  sane,  fair,  kindly  attitude  taken  gives  of  itself  a 
profitable  lesson.  The  author  proves  conclusively  that  his  mind — and  if  his,  why 
not  another's? — can  be  at  one  and  the  same  time  sound,  sanitary,  scientific,  and 
essentially  religious." — The  Examiner,  Chicago. 

"The  author  writes  with  logic  and  a  'sweet  reasonableness'  that  will  doubtless 
convince  many  halting  minds.     It  is  an  inspiring  book." — Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

"It  is,  we  think,  difficult  to  overestimate  the  value  of  this  volume  at  the  present 
critical  pass  in  the  history  of  Christianity." — The  Arena,  Boston. 

"The  author  has  taken  up  a  task  calling  for  heroic  effort,  and  has  given  us  a  volume 
worthy  of  careful  study.  .  .  .  The  conclusion  is  certainly  very  reasonable." — 
Christian  Intelligencer,  New  York. 

"Interesting,  suggestive,  helpful," — Boston  Congregationalist. 

"Thoughtful,  reverent,  suggestive." — Lutheran  Observer,  Philadelphia. 

"Professor  Raymond  is  a  clear  thinker,  an  able  writer,  and  an  earnest  Christian, 
and  his  book  is  calculated  to  be  greatly  helpful  to  those  in  particular  who,  brought  up 
in  the  Christian  faith,  find  it  impossible  longer  to  recorxile  the  teachings  of  the 
Church  with  the  results  of  modern  scientific  thought." — Newark  (  N.  J.)  Evening 
News. 

FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY.  Pabs.,  New  York  and  London 


